Making muslim babies: Ivf and gamete donation in sunni versus shi’a islam

Medical anthropological research on science, biotechnology, and religion has focused on the “local moral worlds” of men and women as they make difficult decisions regarding their health and the beginnings and endings of human life. This paper focuses on the local moral worlds of infertile Muslims as they attempt to make, in the religiously correct fashion, Muslim babies at in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics in Egypt and Lebanon. As early as 1980, authoritative fatwas issued from Egypt’s famed Al-Azhar University suggested that IVF and similar technologies are permissible as long as they do not involve any form of third-party donation (of sperm, eggs, embryos, or uteruses). Since the late 1990s, however, divergences in opinion over third-party gamete donation have occurred between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims, with Iran’s leading ayatollah permitting gamete donation under certain conditions. This Iranian fatwa has had profound implications for the country of Lebanon, where a Shi’ite majority also seeks IVF services. Based on three periods of ethnographic research in Egyptian and Lebanese IVF clinics, this paper explores official and unofficial religious discourses surrounding the practice of IVF and third-party donation in the Muslim world, as well as the gender implications of gamete donation for Muslim marriages

Medicalization of female genital mutilation/cutting

Globally 100–140 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) which is a harmful practice, associated with immediate and long term complications, has no benefit what so ever, is unethical and has no religious basis. Inspite of global efforts to eradicate FGM/C every year 3 million girls are subjected to this harmful practice mostly in Africa and Asia. In some countries FGM/C is increasingly performed by health-care providers, which is alarming. Medicalization of FGM/C is proposed by some health professionals to reduce the incidence of its complications. However medicalization of FGM/C will not reduce the long term complications of FGM, has no benefit what so ever, has no medical indication, and thus its performance violates the code of medical ethics. Furthermore its medicalization would result in a setback in the global efforts to eradicate this harmful practice, and will give the green light to its performance by non health-care providers with subsequent increased incidence of complications. In some Muslim countries where FGM/C is prevalent it is often wrongly quoted that the basis for performing FGM/C is religious instruction. FGM/C has no religious basis what so ever and has been condemned by Al-Azhar based on several verses in the Holy Quraan that relates explicitly or implicitly to female circumcision. The use of the gender term “Sunna circumcision” is nothing but a form of deceit used to misguide people and give the impression that this act is one of the Islamic practices. As for the traditions attributed to Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), scholars of the past and present have agreed that none of these traditions are authentic and therefore should not be attributed to the Prophet (PBUH)