Question:
Is it permitted in Islam to use the new medical methods to produce male children as (preconception gender diagnosis)?
Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
The procedure of selecting the sex of a baby is undertaken by separating the spermatozoon before fertilizing the ovum. Actually, the one who cannot give birth normally adopts the procedure of artificial insemination. Regarding the dangers that are in this act and the prohibitions that are committed in this procedure such as exposing the very private parts of a woman, the possibility of mixing the spermatozoon and the like, we believe that artificial insemination and selecting the sex of a baby is not permitted for anyone who is able to give birth normally.
The procedure of selecting the sex of a baby is undertaken by separating the spermatozoon before fertilizing the ovum. Actually, the one who cannot give birth normally adopts the procedure of artificial insemination. Regarding the dangers that are in this act and the prohibitions that are committed in this procedure such as exposing the very private parts of a woman, the possibility of mixing the spermatozoon and the like, we believe that artificial insemination and selecting the sex of a baby is not permitted for anyone who is able to give birth normally.
The artificial insemination could be permissible only if the conditions that are mentioned in the resolution of the Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League in its seventh session are met; they are as follows:
1. A Muslim woman should not reveal her body to other than her husband at all except for some legal purpose that is acceptable in Sharee'ah.
2. The need for a woman to uncover her body to take the medical treatment for any disease that is harmful for her or cure any abnormality in her body must meet the legal reasons that allow her to uncover her body to other than her husband. Then the uncovering of the body should be restricted only to the extent of necessity.
3. When uncovering the body of a woman to other than her husband becomes lawful for any legal purpose, she should take the treatment from a Muslim lady doctor if it is possible; otherwise, a non-Muslim lady doctor; if it is not possible then from a reliable Muslim male doctor; if that is not possible then a non-Muslim male doctor. The above-mentioned sequence should be considered at the time of treatment. However, it is not permissible for a male doctor to stay in seclusion with a female patient. The presence of her husband or any other woman is compulsory.
Allah Knows best.
Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb