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What is the ruling on taking cells or genes from an aborted fetus and implanting them in a living human for the purpose of treatment?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The ruling on a miscarriage varies depending on the time it occurs. If human features are discernible, it holds the sanctity of a human being, making it permissible to wash, shroud, and pray over it. It is also prohibited to tamper with its organs unless there is permission from the heirs to save another human life or to preserve the organs from damage, as stated in the resolution of the Islamic Fiqh Academy. However, if no human features are discernible, it is permissible to transfer its organs unconditionally, because a miscarriage before the formation of human features has no specific ruling. It is also permissible to take genes from one person to implant them in another, provided that it does not lead to altering God's creation or affecting the donor. The rules applicable to organ transplantation also apply to gene transfer.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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