Fatwa against surrogacy

Lucknow (Sanjay Pandey-DECCAN HERALD) : A new fatwa (religious decree), issued by a prominent Uttar Pradesh based Islamic institution has asked the Muslims to avoid surrogacy (an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person) and test tube babies as they were not allowed in Islam.

The fatwa issued by the Darul Ifta (fatwa section) of the Bareilly Markaz (centre), based at UP’s Bareilly town, says that it was “un-islamic” to have children through surrogacy or by any artificial means. “Islam does not allow a person to have child through unnatural means,” Mufti Kafil Ahmed, a prominent cleric with the fatwa section, said. The fatwa has been issued in response to a query. “Can a childless couple, who does not want to adopt a child, avail the services of a surrogate mother or go for a test tube baby,” the questioner sought to know from the Markaz.

Mufti Kafil said under no circumstances can surrogacy and test tube babies be allowed in Islam as they go against its tenets.

He also said that at a seminar of prominent muslim clerics held a few years back at Bareilly, it had been declared that artificial methods to have children were against the “shariat” (islamic laws) and thus they should be avoided. “The clerics were in union on this issue,” he said. Bareilly Markaz is a prestigious islamic centre and has a large following in the world.

Surrogacy, though not an old phenomenon in India, has been gaining popularity among the childless couples. More and more people are now opting for surrogacy or test tube babies if they do not want to adopt