Islam and New Kinship: Reproductive Technology and the Shariah in Lebanon

by Morgan Clarke

Assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization have provoked global controversy and ethical debate. This book provides a groundbreaking investigation into those debates in the Islamic Middle East, simultaneously documenting changing ideas of kinship and the evolving role of religious authority in the region through a combination of in-depth field research in Lebanon and an exhaustive survey of the Islamic legal literature. Lebanon, home to both Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities, provides a valuable site through which to explore the overall dynamism and diversity of global Islamic debate. As this book shows, Muslim perspectives focus on the moral propriety of such controversial procedures as the use of donor sperm and eggs as well as surrogacy arrangements, which are allowed by some authorities using surprising and innovative legal arguments. These arguments challenge common stereotypes of the rigidity and conservatism of Islamic law and compel us to question conventional contrasts between ‘liberal’ and Islamic notions of moral freedom, as well as the epistemological assumptions of anthropology’s own ‘new kinship studies’. This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary Islam and the impact of reproductive technology on the global social imaginary.

262 pages, Library Binding

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Matthew Petti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fascinating look at Islamic scholarly responses to technologies such as artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, surrogate pregnancy, etc — and how Muslims actually practice that area of Islamic law in Lebanon.

Although Sunni scholars are pretty uneasy with anything other than a baby conceived and birthed by legally married parents, Shi'a scholars have a variety of different responses to the possibilities opened by fertility medicine, such as an embryo fertilized by a married couple implanted in the womb of another woman. The overriding scholarly concern is how to make sure that everyone's lineage can be kept track of, for the purpose of proper inheritance and avoiding incest, and how to avoid the appearance of sexual immodesty.

In practice, the picture is a lot more complicated. Of course, there's the familiar story of people disobeying religious law and doing things that the clergy aren't supposed to know about. But in other cases, official religious law is actually *less* strict than secular societal expectations, and would-be parents arm themselves with religious rulings against a culture of shame.