Islam and Human Cloning

Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 15:11:07 -0500 In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful RESOURCES: ISLAM AND HUMAN CLONING

`SCIENTIST TIED TO UFO-BASED RELIGIOUS GROUP CLAIMS TO CLONE HUMAN`

MALCOLM RITTER, Associated Press, 12/27/02 HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A member of a sect that believes life on Earth was created by extraterrestrials claimed Friday to have produced the world's first human clone, a baby girl. The 7-pound baby was born Thursday by Caesarean section and will be home in three days, said Brigitte Boisselier, a chemist and CEO of a company that did the experiment. She wouldn't say where the baby was born; she did say the birth was at 11:55 a.m. local time. Even before her news conference, other scientists expressed doubt that her group could clone a human. Boisselier said the baby, dubbed "Eve" by the scientists, is a clone of a 31-year-old American woman. The woman donated the DNA for the cloning process, had the resulting embryo implanted and then gestated the baby, Boisselier said. If confirmed, that would make the child an exact genetic duplicate of her mother. Boisselier, who wouldn't reveal any names, said the mother had resorted to cloning because her husband was infertile… ---

`AMERICAN MUSLIMS OPPOSE HUMAN CLONING`

According to a 2001 poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), 81 percent of 1008 Muslim respondents said they were opposed to human cloning. ---

`ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN CLONING`

Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina, University of Virginia http://www.people.virginia.edu/~aas/article/article4.htm http://www.people.virginia.edu/~aas/issues/cloning.htm It is obvious that in light of the limited knowledge that we have about who would be harmed by cloning or whose rights would be violated, Muslim legal rulings are bound to reflect a cautious and even prohibitive attitude to the cloning beyond treatment of infertility or assessment of genetic or other abnormalities in the embryo prior to implantation. ---

`HUMAN CLONING: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE`

Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi http://www.crescentlife.com/wellness/human_cloning_islamic_perspective.htm However, cloning should not be used as an alternate way of human production, even on a small scale. In my opinion, a full-fledged use of cloning technology is haram [prohibited] because it may cause three major problems: * It may cause danger to the human personality * It may cause danger to human dignity and honor * It may cause danger to human family and society ---

`CLONING: ISLAMIC VIEW`

IOMS, Recommendations of the 9th Fiqh-Medical Seminar http://www.crescentlife.com/wellness/cloning_islamic_perspective2.htm Ordinary human cloning, in which the nucleus of a living somatic cell from an individual is placed into the cytoplasm of an egg devoid of its nucleus, is not to be permitted. If exceptional cases emerge in the future, they should be considered to verify compliance with the Shari'ah [Islamic law]. ---

`CLONING: FRIEND OR FOE`

Ayman Nawash, Islamonline.net http://www.islamonline.net/iol-english/dowalia/techng-15-10/techng1b.asp Regarding the question of permissibility, the majority of the council members after discussion reached the conclusion that cloning is permissible in case of plants as well as in case of animals except human beings. The extension of cloning to human beings would create extremely complex and intractable social and moral problems. Therefore cloning of human beings cannot be permitted. ---

`ARGUMENTS FOR & AGAINST THE MANMADE GENESIS OF LIFE`

Active-Islam.com http://www.shianews.com/hi/articles/education/0000053.php Some Arguments against Human Cloning * God is the Creator not humans. We have no right to interfere with God's plan. * Loss of Kinship - as the clone does not really have an identifiable mother or father. * Harmful to Society/nature - may have grave consequences if this ability was to create superior beings. * May cause disruption in nature, due to possibilities of overpopulation and famine. * Unnatural - a way of reproduction that is contrary to what God has given humans. Arguments for Cloning * Cloning is a form of creation that is created from materials we have, rather than from nothing - which is Gods ability only. * Islam encourages research and investigation. * Cloning Technology can be used for good purposes - new cures for diseases and conditions. ---

`LEGAL COMMITTEE IS TOLD OF EFFORTS TO REACH CONSENSUS IN FORMULATING CONVENTION AGAINST HUMAN CLONING`

M2 PRESSWIRE, 10/28/02 ELFATIH ERWA (Sudan), speaking for the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said the inconclusive nature of scientific research into cloning techniques raised serious concerns whether those techniques could be carried out successfully on a human being. Opposition to human cloning also stemmed from the underlying fears that the technique could fall into the hands of some unscrupulous elements who could abuse it for their nefarious purposes. The group of Islamic States felt that the Ad Hoc Committee should be requested to proceed, as a matter of urgency, with the preparation of a draft text on the subject. It believed that with the completion of the draft, negotiations should continue to address the issues relating to therapeutic cloning. The group strongly encouraged other cloning techniques to produce DNA molecules, organs, plant tissues and cells other than human embryos. It believed that such techniques should be permitted. ---

`MALAYSIA'S ISLAMIC DECISION-MAKING BODY BANS HUMAN CLONING`

JASBANT SINGH, Associated Press, 3/13/02 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's highest religious decision-making body has banned human cloning, saying the procedure is "unnatural and totally against Islam." Ismail Ibrahim, head of the Muslim clerical council with powers to issue a decree, or fatwa, said that the council held several discussions with local Islamic scholars before arriving at a unanimous decision. "Human cloning has generated a lot of interest around the world," Ismail told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "We do not have problems with cloning of animals or even food, but human beings are a completely different issue…" Islam forbids human cloning since it goes against the laws of natural reproduction, Ismail said. Verses in the Koran, Islam's holy book, "say that the creation of human beings is brought through the reproductive seeds of a husband and wife," Ismail said. "Any procedure that does not meet this criteria is unnatural and totally against Islam…" ---

`TUNISIA CALLS FOR ARAB TREATY TO BAN HUMAN CLONING`

Agence France Presse, 3/3/99 CAIRO - Tunisia called Wednesday for a treaty banning human cloning in Arab countries, the Arab League said. Tunisia's Health Minister el-Hadi Mehanna made the proposal during a meeting here of Arab League health ministers, who agreed to form a committee to draft such a treaty. Leading clerics in Arab countries have denounced cloning as contrary to Islam… ---

`ARAB DOCTOR URGES MOSLEM COUNTRIES TO BAN HUMAN CLONING EXPERIMENTS`

Agence France Presse, 1/10/98 DUBAI, - A medical professor from the United Arab Emirates has called on Moslem governments not to allow Western researchers to carry out human cloning experiments banned in their own countries, newspapers reported here Saturday. Governments "should ban any research organization or scientist, local or foreign, who seeks to use Islamic countries as an arena for carrying out illegal experiments on human cloning," said Maamun al-Shaqfa, professor of medicine at the medical faculty here. Shaqfa was speaking at a seminar in the UAE emirate of Sharjah organized in response to Chicago-based scientist Richard Seed's announcement Wednesday that he intended to pursue human cloning in the United States or anywhere else in the world he was allowed to. "Islam is not opposed to scientific research, but authorization of any experiment is not recommended unless the sharia (Islamic law) pronounces on its legality or illegality," Shaqfa said. "Human cloning is inadmissible because it destroys the basic social concepts of the family, married life and parenthood," said Mohammed al-Morsi Zahra, doyen of the faculty of theology and law at the UAE university… ----- CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726 Fax: 202-488-0833 E-mail: cair@cair-net.org URL: http://www.cair-net.org