“Availing oneself of the facility of human sperm bank is not permissible in Islam.” This is one of the 35 edicts pronounced by the All India Fiqhi conference organised by the Jamiatul Mominath, a girl’s seminary, here.
At the end of the three-day conference, the edict on sperm banks said banking on them was akin to prostitution and would invite the wrath of the almighty. Surrogacy and mothers’ milk bank too were unIslamic. For Muslim women it was illegal to donate milk or make use of milk bank for their children. The conference was attended by Islamic scholars and Muftis, both men and women.
The Muftis upheld a wife’s right to annul the marriage if her husband was suffering from AIDS or any dreaded disease. But the husband was not allowed to exercise the same right. He would have to go for second marriage instead of divorcing the first wife. With regard to the present trend of giving divorce through email, Internet and mobile phone, the theologians said that such a divorce was valid if the person sending the message was identified as ‘husband’.
