Document Type : Specialized Article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Research, Imam Khomeini International University (RA), Qazvin, Iran
2
Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
10.30497/flj.2026.248550.2206
Abstract
Abstract
Scientific advances in the field of assisted reproduction have given rise to the novel phenomenon of embryo donation, which—due to its far-reaching implications for lineage, marital prohibitions (maḥramiyyah), inheritance, and the structure of the family—has generated significant jurisprudential and legal ambiguities within Islamic law–based legal systems. The central focus of this study is to examine the jurisprudential legitimacy of embryo donation in its various forms from the perspectives of Imami (Shiʿi) jurisprudence and Sunni jurisprudence, and to elucidate the legal consequences arising therefrom in the domain of family law. The research hypothesis posits that Imami jurisprudence, drawing upon its dynamic principles of ijtihād and legal maxims such as the negation of undue hardship (nafī al-ḥaraj), necessity (ḍarūrah), and the protection of the child’s best interests, possesses the doctrinal capacity to recognize the conditional permissibility of embryo donation within a framework of Sharīʿa-compliant safeguards. By contrast, Sunni jurisprudence has predominantly adopted a prohibitive approach, largely motivated by concerns over confusion of lineage (ikhtilāṭ al-ansāb) and the potential destabilization of the family institution. Employing a descriptive–analytical methodology grounded in the examination of classical and contemporary jurisprudential sources, legal doctrines, and modern fatwas, the findings indicate that while adaptive jurisprudential reasoning in Imami fiqh enables the formulation of a conditional framework for the permissibility of embryo donation, the Iranian legal system requires further legislative refinement with respect to lineage determination, inheritance effects, and civil registration of children born through such methods. Such reforms are necessary to strike a coherent balance between the therapeutic imperatives of infertility treatment and the preservation of Sharīʿa principles and public order in family law.
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