This article highlights the overlooked Islamic perspectives on the 14-day rule in international guidelines for human embryo research, predominantly shaped by Western, secular traditions. Despite their global influence, these guidelines constrain Muslim-majority countries, where Islamic perspectives hold more permissive views. Recent developments underscore the urgent need for a more inclusive discourse, especially as Muslim countries increasingly invest in research institutions and collaborate with their Western counterparts.
Religiously rooted bioethical perspectives are also gaining prominence, exemplified by the 17th World Congress of Bioethics in Doha, Qatar, which took place on 3–6 June 2024. This event marks the first edition hosted in the Arab world and the entire Middle East, centered on the theme ‘‘Religion, Culture, and Global Bioethics’’ (https:// wcb.cilecenter.org/wcb#/?lang=en). Significant strides in human embryo research and discussions reflect centuries-old interactions between science and ethics, shaping our understanding of the human body and the broader universe. Figures like Aristotle (d. 322 BCE), Avicenna (1037), Maimonides (1204), and Aquinas (d. 1274) have profoundly shaped both developmental biology and ethical considerations.
Muslim scholars have similarly engaged critically with these interdisciplinary sources, verifying religio-ethical positions on human embryos (Ghaly, 2014). Amid shifting paradigms in modern biomedical advancements, particularly embryo research, the Muslim world’s discussions have consistently integrated Islamic values, advocating for nuanced approaches rooted in pre-modern Islamic scholarship. HUMAN EMBRYO IN THE ISLAMIC MORAL TRADITION To explore contemporary Islamic perspectives on embryo research and elucidate their methodological foundations and modes of reasoning, this article begins with an overview of pertinent pre-modern discussions, followed by an examination of contemporary perspectives. Drawing from dominant positions in classical and modern discourse, we then propose an engaging perspective that integrates these historical and current viewpoints. Pre-modern discourse Analyses from early Muslim scholars indicate that an in vivo embryo was typically perceived as part of the unseen world (ghayb), knowledge of which is exclusive to God and primarily conveyed through the Quran and Sunna. They also acknowledged empirically verified medical information as a valid source of knowledge, aiming to reconcile insights from diverse sources, grounded in the belief that God is the ultimate source of both medical knowledge and religious scripture.
The moral standing of the human embryo was not fixed but subject to change based on three key factors. Place Some canonical Prophetic traditions explicitly describe the embryo as a fusion of two fluids, literally waters (in Arabic maʾan ), one from the male and the other from the female. Based on the medical knowledge available at the time, pre-modern Muslim scholars viewed a woman’s womb as the sole environment where this mixture of fluids (fertilized egg) could exist and develop until birth. Grounded in these scriptural references and medical understanding, Muslim scholars concurred that the initial morally significant status of a human embryo begins with its implantation in the womb. While male and female fluids could exist separately outside the womb, neither had the potential to independently progress to the stage of a viable embryo or
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