However, according to a law passed in 1991, it is prohibited for embryos to be stored for more than five years without the donors consent. Five years have passed from that time and the frozen embryos of donors who have since lost contact with their doctors are about to be destroyed.
At present, this decision is causing much controversy due to the input of the Catholic Church who asserted that every embryo had a God-given right to life. With this in mind, they are encouraging faithful couples to have an embryo placed in the woman’s womb. According to the church, 130 couples have volunteered. The churches actions reflect their principle of the volubility of life and are unsure where all this embryo research will lead to in this respect.
In the religion of Islam, it is well known that one of the major reasons for marrying is to increase and multiply the adamic race. This is why it is usually devastating when it is revealed to a couple that they are infertile.
In the pre-scientific era, when the principles of the Sacred Law (Shari’ah) were being organized and formalized, fertility treatment was not an issue. Believing woman who were infertile were to act upon the examples of the women mentioned in the Quran. These included Sarah, Abraham’s wife:
Then he conceived a fear of them. They said: Fear not! and gave him tidings of (the birth of) a wise son. Then his wife came forward, making moan, and smote her face, and cried: A barren old woman! They said: Even so saith thy Lord. Lo! He is the Wise, the Knower. (Surah 51:28-30)
In the well known and accepted Tafsir al-Jalalayn, the author mentions that at the time she was 99 years old while Abraham was 120 years old. It is with verses like this that women are encouraged never to despair of the mercy of Allah. This principle is firmly established in the Sunnah – the Prophetic Tradition – in which it is clearly mentioned that all of the Prophet’s wives did not bear children besides one, yet they were the Mothers of the Believers.
With regards to modern fertility treatment, the principles of Islam are clear: In all the scenarios of the Prophet SAW, it is noted that he always the easiest means possible to achieve an end with the exception of means which are expressly forbidden by Allah in the Quran. When applied to the situation of infertility, the forbidden means include AID and egg donation since this would invalidate the child’s lineage which is considered sacred in Islam, this was one of the reasons adultery was forbidden.
AIH and IVF, however, (using the husband’s sperm) are permissible since it is not the Science itself which is forbidden, rather the mixing up of lineages. Using this rationale as a basis, Muslims are not opposed the destroying of these embryos since they do not posses life. From this we can conclude that the “spare embryo” scenario is not a problem from the Islamic point of view provided that they are not donated to any other women.
The importance of the position of Islam on this issue is of great importance since most personal beliefs with regards to this would reflect his/hers core beliefs, for instance a Muslim who believed in the word of Allah and the tradition of his Prophet SAW would naturally agree with the view I have outlined in previous paragraphs. It is for this reason I hold these very views.
©2009 Suleiman Bobat
