Employment promoting stem cell products

8-11-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamualaikum My name is Sarah n i work in a call centre. Ive just joined a new procees which promotes lifecell products. lifecelll is an international bank which stores stem cell from naval cords of new born babies. these cells are then used to treat lethal diseases like cancer, blood cancer, parkinson s disease which were untill now considered to b incurable. i was, honestly speaking, really fascinated by the idea n did all what i cld to promote the idea. but now i have found out that stem cell therapy is a form of cloning which is haram. im very confused whether i shld continue working here or not. plz guide me.i dont mind leaving the job if it is against taqwa.Allah will give me another source of income.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

We have underlined in previous Fataawa the permissibility of using stem cells extracted from embryos; please refer to Fataawa 82428 and 88372. Some contemporary scholars held that it is permissible to establish cell banks in pursuit of a legitimate interest.

In principle, your work in this field is permissible; however, if you find out or think that Islamic violations are most likely being committed in it, then it is impermissible for you to carry on with your work in it.

Allaah Knows best.