Journal of Islamic Studies > Volume 26, No. 3, 2014

Sperm Banks from a Jurisprudential Perspective / Saleh Ibn Mohammad Al Fouzan

This research deals with the issue of sperm banks. It discusses the arguments for and against their establishment. It aims to elaborate the jurisprudential ruling on the requirements and regulations of sperm banks. The research follows an analytical approach in presenting and discussing evidences, and an inductive approach in surveying the history, purposes and regulations of sperm banking, and a typical fiqhi / jurisprudential approach in presenting rulings with evidences and proper documentation of Hadiths and other sources. Among the research's important findings are the following: related rulings depend on the type of guarantees put forward by the institutions responsible for the bank activities; if the institutions fulfill the stated requirements and regulations, the sperm banks are highly likely to be ruled as permissible, and vice versa. To be Islamically permissible, it is required that the aim of storing the sperms be to conduct artificial insemination for a legally married couple in their lifetime, providing the husband's consent; it is also required that no harm befall the fetus as a result, and that meticulous care be taken in related banking activities and operations to guarantee safety and identity; those in charge of sperm banking activities have to be well known for their integrity and expertise; and the whole project has to be under state control.