Human Cloning
by Mufti Muhammad Saeed Motara Saheb


The Western World is continuously looking for ways and means of making strides in the field of Science and Technology. In their attempts to make strides in this field, they tend to conveniently turn a blind eye to the religious and cultural sentiments of the various nations of the world. In their euphoria of so-called scientific progress, they are wont to trample upon the honour and dignity of the human race. At the same time, the Western World's machinery of propaganda with their control over the mass media, is busy indocrinating many Eastern Bloc countries into accepting their weird dogmas and ideals. It would thus not be an exaggeration to say that the devious ways of the West have not remained restricted to the geographical boundaries of the West but that these ways have become an ideology permeating through every comer of the world, making it a global threat. Now, fresh from the stables of Western mentality comes the advent of 'cloning'. The successful cloning of Dolly the sheep by a Dr Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Scotland has raised hopes in many Medical and Scientific circles of the possibility of successful human cloning.


ADVANTAGES?

The proponents of human cloning are already citing so called 'advantages' of human cloning. For instance, they claim that success in this field will be a great boon for those childless couples who have lost hope in acquiring children of their own. In fact, hopes have been raised to the extent that, according to the Johannesburg Muslim Doctor who recently made headlines on the cloning issue, cloning may even succeed for those couples who have failed to acquire children through artificial insemination.

As far as the Shar'i aspect is concerned, my humble view is that cloning should NOT be permitted and should be totally outlawed. In spite of the fact that it could be beneficial (such as in the case of childless couples), the harms far outweigh the benefits. Some of the factors that would render it prohibited would be the following:

  1. Cloning would become nothing short of a commercial venture. Already plans are afoot in some Western countries such as America to clone past superior race-horses so that the gambling and racing industry remain abuzz with these fast horses for decades to come and the tatterstalls continue to generate Haraam business. (Monthly Al-Haqq, vol. 32 No. 7 - Zhul Hijjah 1417/April 1997 issue). As Western mentality is programmed to concoct weird ideas, one may see efforts directed next towards cloning film stars in order to draw packed houses to the box-office and thereby keep promiscuity and permissiveness fully ingrained in the passions of the gullible public. Similar attempts could be made with regard to cloning sports stars.


FEATURES

  1. Generic Engineering, which is basically interfering with the creation of Allah Ta'ala, will be closely linked to cloning. The Johannesburg Muslim Doctor explained to us that this would entail couples being able to make the decision of WHAT TYPE of children they would like to get. With Generic Engineering, the Cell Tissue extracted from the couple could be manipulated in a way whereby the couple would be able to decide to have a light-complexioned or dark-complexioned child, a blue-eyed or green-eyed child, a blonde-haired or dark-haired child and so on. We can well imagine what chaos this would cause in that when the child will NOT resemble the parents, people would begin to accuse the child's mother of having perhaps committed adultery with a man having THOSE features, because the child does not resemble its father.

  2. When cloning will become commonplace, cell-tissue banks will be established and people will begin to sell their tissues to these banks which will result in the sale of human tissue, which is prohibited.

  3. People will buy cell tissue for infusing into women, not knowing whose tissue it is. This would create a great deal of confusion in establishing family lineage, siblings, etc. and even result in brothers getting married to sisters without realising it.

In short, cloning could pose a great global threat to the very ideals of human society and cause mayhem and pandemonium in many respects. Practically, all religious denominations have taken note of the evils inherent in this practice, which is why they have all condemned it. In the most recent issue of 'Al-Balagh' (Darul Ulum, Karachi monthly), Hadhrat Mufti Taqi Uthmaani (Mudda Zilluhu) has, in his report-back of the annual Fiqh Academy Conference, written that the issue of cloning was also discussed at the Conference and all the delegates present had unanimously declared cloning to be prohibited.