Surrogacy and Muslim Law
Surrogacy as a practice where the woman gives birth to a child, to be raised by another woman, raises pertinent issues in the Muslim Law and varying opinion among the authorities.
According to Muslim scholars, the question of surrogacy in Islam, is one of fiqh and have based their findings on the legal analogies and considerations. For one group of scholars, surrogate motherhood especially the gestational type of surrogacy, is not allowed in Muslim law, because it is akin to zina (adultery). This is because the woman carries the child of a man who is not her husband. The status of surrogacy in Muslim Law is Haram and is forbidden. Scholars have pronounced a fatwa (Islamic verdict) regarding surrogacy. They regard it to be illegal and immoral because surrogacy involves the introduction of the sperm of another man into a woman, who is not his wife. In support of these scholars, there is the ayah (verse) in the Surah-al-Mujadalah, where the Quran says : "...their mothers are only…show more content… After the birth of the first testube baby Kanupriya in Kolkata on October 3rd 1978, the field of assisted reproductive technology advanced rapidly. Initially it began with the objective of enabling married couples who could not have children to procreate and establish a family. But today surrogacy has become a business in India, making it impossible to talk about surrogacy without referring to India. Anand in Gujarat has become the surrogacy capital the world where woman offer their wombs to childless couples of different parts of the world such as UK, US, Japan, etc. So far 177 couples have become parent through hiring surrogates in Anand which has a 300 member community of surrogates. The surrogates in India are paid a minimum of rupees three lack and are also given a monthly maintenance of rupees 3000-5000 during the pregnancy. In 2010, there were around 1500 births through surrogacy in