Question:
There is scientific research that has spread explicitly these days, after previously being researched bashfully, namely "embryo freezing and gender selection." These have become popular commodities in Western countries and then moved to Muslim lands. They did not remain mere scientific research but went beyond that to the point where some Muslims have begun to engage with them. What is the Shar'i ruling on these two matters? May Allah reward you with goodness.
Answer:
Before answering, we say that Allah (swt) created man and taught him what he did not know. He created specific characteristics, measures, and compositions in the universe, man, and life that open the way for man to benefit from the sciences of life and use those sciences in what benefits people. Allah (swt) praised beneficial knowledge and beneficial scholars because they are most capable of believing in Allah and deducing His greatness, wisdom, and power from the secrets they see in this universe, man, and life. He (swt) said:
إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ
"Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge." (Fatir [35]: 28)
And the Prophet (saw) said:
... إِنَّ الْعُلَمَاءَ هُمْ وَرَثَةُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ إِنَّ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ لَمْ يُوَرِّثُوا دِينَارًا وَلَا دِرْهَمًا إِنَّمَا وَرَّثُوا الْعِلْمَ فَمَنْ أَخَذَهُ أَخَذَ بِحَظٍّ وَافِرٍ
"...The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets. The Prophets did not leave behind dinars or dirhams, rather they left behind knowledge. So whoever takes it has taken an abundant portion." (Narrated by Ibn Majah via Abu Darda (ra)).
However, Shaytan and his followers, and the people of evil, have harnessed science for harm and damage, and to distort human life, taking it out of its sound and upright state. Those sciences were used for things they should not have been used for. Thus, there was cloning, the freezing of sperm, eggs, and then embryos, and planting them in those other than their rightful owners. There was the dissection of the dead and the selling of their organs; even the kidnapping and killing of the living to trade in human organs, and conducting so-called scientific experiments on embryos and freezing them, and tampering with the life of the fetus and extracting its organs, sometimes under the pretext of medicine and sometimes under the pretext of science!
Allah (swt) says:
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آَدَمَ
"And We have certainly honored the children of Adam." (Al-Isra [17]: 70)
The default should be that science proceeds from this dignity that Allah has granted to man and by which He distinguished him from much of His creation, in order to make humans happy and improve their physical and mental lives... But those evil scientists proceeded from the distortion of man, to a level lower than animals, making him a field of experimentation for every evil and harm.
After that, we say:
The Shar'i ruling on the subject of the question is as follows:
First: Embryo Freezing.
Some medical cases have been found among couples that prevent the fertilization of the wife's egg by the husband's sperm through natural means, such as a blockage in the cervix or weakness in the movement of the sperm to reach the egg, or other reasons known to specialists. Thus, some scientists reached the point of fertilizing the egg outside the uterus in a tube under suitable conditions, where the woman is given drugs such as Clomid to make her produce several eggs at once. Then, the specialist doctor inserts a laparoscope and a probe at the scheduled time for ovulation (the release of eggs) and suctions a group of eggs from the ovary... then places each egg in a Petri Dish in a special liquid, and these eggs are fertilized with sperm from the husband...
After that fertilization in the tube is completed, the fertilized egg (one or more) is returned to the wife's uterus. If Allah (swt) decrees creation from this fertilized egg, it attaches to the uterus and grows into a nutfah, then a mudghah... and if Allah (swt) does not decree creation from this fertilized egg, it dies and vanishes.
Because many cases fail (the failure rate may reach 90%), and because of the husband and wife's interest in pregnancy, they repeat the process. This is exhausting for the woman because she is usually given various drugs and treatments to stimulate the ovary to produce a number of eggs, as fertilization in the "tube" is not guaranteed. The ovary is stimulated to produce more than one egg so that if this one is not fertilized, that one will be. They take the fertilized one and re-implant it in the uterus, and sometimes they return more than one fertilized egg to the uterus so that if one dies, the other may succeed...
The fertilized eggs are implanted in the woman's uterus with a special device. The practice is to implant three eggs in the uterus to ensure the success of one of them. A number of fertilized eggs remain that were not implanted in the uterus; rather, they are used at a later stage if the eggs implanted in the uterus do not succeed. That is, if the implanted egg fails, they do not need to treat the woman again and exhaust her; rather, they take from the extra fertilized eggs and implant them in the uterus. Thus, every time one fails, they take the other without re-exhausting the woman with medications again.
However, the failure of the first implanted fertilized egg does not happen immediately; it may not be discovered until hours or days later. During this period, the other extra fertilized eggs die if they are not frozen at suitable temperatures and under suitable conditions. Therefore, the extra eggs are frozen with liquid nitrogen to be ready for implantation if the first operation fails.
Thus, the idea of freezing embryos appeared, which was originally to return them to the mother's uterus upon the failure of the first attempt, without exhausting the woman with new medicines and treatments.
Later, these embryos became a commercial material, especially in the lands of the Kuffar in the West. They remained in freezing for a long time, reaching years, and might not be returned to the mother but sold to other couples, or even to women without husbands. What resembles banks for storing frozen embryos appeared, and sometimes the embryos get mixed with each other, as news has recently reported, and another "strange" fertilized egg is returned to the woman upon the failure of the first attempt... thus lineages are mixed and human life is distorted...
As we said, freezing is not limited to fertilized eggs; they have started freezing eggs and freezing sperm, and selling them to whoever wants them, marketing them by saying that this egg or that sperm is from distinguished people or the like...
This is, in brief, the reality of frozen embryos. This door has several details in their research, but the overall reality is what we have explained, and the details do not deviate from it.
Based on this, the Shar'i ruling is as follows:
- The recourse of couples to fertilization outside the uterus (IVF) as a medical treatment for their condition in terms of the inability to conceive naturally is permissible because it is a medicine (dawa'), and the Messenger (saw) commanded seeking treatment. Abu Dawood narrated from Usamah bin Sharik who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
تَدَاوَوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمْ يَضَعْ دَاءً إِلَّا وَضَعَ لَهُ دَوَاءً غَيْرَ دَاءٍ وَاحِدٍ الْهَرَمُ
"Seek treatment, for Allah (azwj) has not created a disease except that He has created a cure for it, except for one disease: old age (death)."
But this is under two conditions:
First: That the fertilization in the tube be from the water of the man and the woman who are married by a valid (sahih) contract. On the authority of Ruwayfi' ibn Thabit al-Ansari, the Messenger (saw) said:
لَا يَحِلُّ لِامْرِئٍ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ أَنْ يَسْقِيَ مَاءَهُ زَرْعَ غَيْرِهِ
"It is not permissible for a man who believes in Allah and the Last Day to water the crop of another with his water." (Narrated by Ahmad). So it is not permissible for the egg of any woman to be fertilized except by the water of the husband.
Second: That this, i.e., fertilization in the tube and its transfer to the woman's uterus, takes place during the life of the husband, and not after his death as happens in the West, where they see no objection to transferring the frozen fertilized egg to the mother's uterus at the time she wants, whether her husband is alive or dead! This is not permissible in Islam because a woman's pregnancy without a living husband from the start of the pregnancy is haram and carries a punishment. Pregnancy without a husband is one of the evidences of zina. Any woman who becomes pregnant without a husband is a sinner committing a haram and a great sin. This is based on what was narrated from 'Umar and 'Ali (ra), and no one among the Sahaba denounced their statement, even though this matter is something that would be denounced if it were not established; thus, it constitutes an Ijma' (consensus).
Pregnancy without a husband is one of the evidences of zina, and it carries the Hadd (prescribed punishment) if it was the result of sexual intercourse. It carries a severe Ta’zir (discretionary) punishment if the pregnancy was without sexual intercourse, i.e., by inserting the fertilized egg from the tube into the wife's uterus after the death of her husband, such that the pregnancy occurs after the husband's death.
Thus, fertilization outside the uterus and then transferring it to the mother's uterus, provided it is from the husband to the wife and during the husband's life, is permissible. That is, what is called "test-tube babies" is permissible with the mentioned conditions.
- As for freezing the extra fertilized egg (or eggs) while waiting to know the success of the first attempt—such that if it fails, they take the frozen fertilized egg and then re-implant it in the mother's uterus, and if that fails, they take the other, and so on.
If these frozen fertilized eggs ("frozen embryos") were certainly from the mother and not mixed with others, it would be permissible to re-implant them in the mother under the two mentioned conditions.
However, what has been reported in the news about the mixing of frozen embryos makes the freezing of embryos and their return to the mother upon the failure of the first attempt impermissible for the following reasons:
- Attention is usually given to the first fertilized egg that succeeds in fertilization in the tube, followed by its re-implantation in the uterus, and care and follow-up continue for it.
- The other extra fertilized eggs that are frozen are not followed with care nor paid attention to until after the failure of the first. As we said, it does not fail immediately but requires a shorter or longer time to confirm the failure. During this period, this extra fertilized egg or eggs are in freezing.
- News has been reported about the mixing of frozen embryos ("fertilized eggs"), and this news makes the mixing of lineages a possibility through the mixing of embryo freezing.
- The first attempt, in the case of its success, requires the disposal of the extra frozen embryos. However, this disposal remains unconfirmed, and its non-disposal remains suspected, especially since news also reports on the trade of frozen embryos.
Because the Shar'i principle is "The means to the haram is haram," and the preponderance of belief (ghalabat az-zann) in the rule is sufficient, and because the mixing of frozen embryos—whether by mistake or intentionally for commercial purposes—leads to the mixing of lineages which is haram, as Islam has mandated the preservation and protection of lineages. Ibn Majah narrated in his Sunan via Ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
من انتسب إلى غير أبيه، أو تولى غير مواليه، فعليه لعنة الله والملائكة والناس أجمعين
"Whoever attributes his lineage to other than his father, or takes as masters other than his own, then upon him is the curse of Allah, the angels, and all of mankind." And Ad-Darimi narrated via Abu Hurayrah that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say when the verse of Mula'anah was revealed:
أيَّما امرأة أدخلت على قوم نسباً ليس منهم فليست من الله في شيء، ولم يدخلها الله جنته
"Any woman who introduces into a people a lineage that is not of them, she has nothing to do with Allah, and Allah will not admit her to His Paradise."
Accordingly, this means—i.e., freezing extra embryos—is haram. The fertilized eggs in excess of those returned to the uterus the first time must be destroyed immediately without freezing them as a precaution for the failure of the first attempt. Rather, if the first fails, the wife is treated again to create a new fertilized egg as happened in the first case. The resulting exhaustion for the woman is not a reason for freezing embryos that lead to the mixing of lineages and consequently to the haram.
It may be said that the Shar'i principle requires the preponderance of belief regarding the mixing of frozen embryos, and what is reported is suspicion (zann) and not preponderance of belief (ghalabat az-zann), especially if the treating party is trustworthy and performs the freezing in a safe manner, and also destroys the extra frozen embryos in case the first attempt succeeds. Why then do we say that freezing extra embryos is prohibited when it spares the woman from exhaustion again to fertilize a new egg if the first fails?
The answer to that is: it is true that the rule requires preponderance of belief, and in the case where the treating party is safe, this preponderance of belief is not available. Yes, if complete tranquility is provided that embryos are not mixed, it would be permissible provided that the rest are destroyed upon the success of the first attempt. However, this matter is of extreme sensitivity, and what the news reports makes tranquility shaken in two stages:
First: The period the first attempt stays to confirm success and the occurrence of pregnancy. During this period, the extra frozen embryos are not under attention and care because the follow-up is for the success of the first attempt.
Second: That upon the success of the first or second attempt, the extra frozen embryos must be destroyed. However, this disposal is not under attention and follow-up since if the woman becomes pregnant, neither she nor her husband cares about following up on the extra frozen embryos; they may suffice with a question, and be told they have been destroyed...
So how can tranquility be provided while the trade in frozen embryos is reported in the news?!
Nevertheless, even if preponderance of belief for the occurrence of the prohibition according to the mentioned rule is not provided, it is a doubt (ribah). At-Tirmidhi narrated, and said it is a Hasan Sahih hadith, via Al-Hasan bin 'Ali (ra) who said: I memorized from the Messenger of Allah (saw):
دَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لَا يَرِيبُكَ
"Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt."
Summary:
It is permissible to fertilize a woman's egg with her husband's sperm outside the uterus in a "tube" as a treatment for the woman's pregnancy, as long as that is not possible through natural means.
After taking the fertilized egg and re-implanting it in the uterus, the other fertilized eggs in the tube are destroyed.
If the first attempt succeeds by Allah's permission, let the spouses praise Allah (swt). If it does not succeed, let them repeat the attempt again and the fertilization in the tube anew, without resorting to freezing the extra fertilized eggs from the first attempt.
All of that is permissible provided that the egg and the sperm are from spouses with a valid Shar'i contract and during the husband's life—i.e., that the fertilization of the egg outside the uterus and then its re-implantation in the uterus be during the husband's life.
Second: Gender Selection.
Since ancient times, there were people who tried to choose the offspring they wanted and destroy what they did not want in the ways available to them.
- In the Jahiliyyah (Days of Ignorance), they wanted males to help them in raids and to preserve lineage, so they used to commit wa'd (infanticide) of girls—that is, burying them while they were alive:
وَإِذَا الْمَوْءُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ * بِأَيِّ ذَنْبٍ قُتِلَتْ
"And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked * For what sin she was killed." (At-Takwir [81]: 8-9)
- When other means became available, such as imaging what is in the womb of the pregnant woman, if the fetus was undesired, they used abortion to drop it while it was in its mother's womb.
- Later, especially when new advanced techniques became available regarding monitoring the conditions surrounding the fetus in its mother's womb, they found that an acidic environment is more suitable for the female sperm, and the basic (alkaline) environment suits the male sperm. Therefore, they resorted to certain means to stimulate the alkaline environment in the female's uterus before intercourse, by performing an internal alkaline wash in the vagina on the basis that it helps male fertility. And performing an acidic vaginal "douche" wash before intercourse, on the basis that it helps female fertility.
- Then they began searching for nutritional systems that help produce an alkaline environment in the woman's body, and nutritional systems that help produce an acidic environment in the woman's body.
They saw that food affects the process of determining the gender of the fetus from two aspects:
First: It changes the acidic and alkaline environment in the cervix and vagina. Potassium and sodium turn the environment alkaline, and thus there is a better chance of conceiving males. As for magnesium and calcium, they make the environment acidic, and thus there is a better chance of conceiving females.
Second: It causes a change in the wall of the egg to increase the receptivity of the egg to the male or female sperm.
Thus, they recommended that the spouses—especially the woman who desires a male child—eat foods that stimulate the alkaline environment, such as a salty diet, extra-salted meats, avoiding milk and its derivatives, increasing spices, eating fruits, and taking medications containing potassium... and so on from the foods that help in alkaline formation in the body.
As for the female child, they recommended foods that help in the acidic formation of the body, such as drinking milk and its derivatives, reducing salt, staying away from eating meat—especially salted—staying away from fruits, staying away from condiments and spices... and taking medications containing calcium, and so on from the foods that help in acidic formation in the body.
- Then they also saw another way, which is that they found if the woman releases the egg before the man releases the sperm—i.e., the sperm comes after the presence of the egg—and fertilization occurred, there was more room for a male child. If the man releases the sperm before the release of the egg—i.e., the egg came after the sperm—and fertilization occurred, there was more room for a female child... For example, if intercourse occurs immediately after ovulation, the balance tips toward masculinity, and vice versa. Thus, if intercourse takes place while the egg is present (during the day of its descent from the ovary), precedence is for masculinity. But if intercourse takes place a longer period before its descent, precedence is in favor of the female. Accordingly, 'azl (coitus interruptus) is practiced on the days when the gender of the fetus is not desired to be formed, and they refrain from 'azl during the period when the balance of the desired gender is tipped...
In this way, 'azl becomes a means to tip the balance of the fetus's gender.
This requires monitoring the time of ovulation in the woman. He does not have intercourse with her before ovulation if he expects a male child so that the egg does not come after the discharge of sperm; therefore, he must practice 'azl on those days. Upon ovulation, the man must hasten to have intercourse so that the sperm is discharged while the egg is present.
If the desire is for a female child, he should not have intercourse with her after the descent of the egg; rather, in the ovarian period, he practices 'azl and does not have intercourse with her. He only has intercourse with her immediately before the descent of the egg, because if he has intercourse with her more than a certain duration before the descent of the egg, the sperm dies before it fertilizes the egg.
Perhaps this latter method is what the Sunnah refers to. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said in the hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari:
وَأَمَّا الْوَلَدُ فَإِذَا سَبَقَ مَاءُ الرَّجُلِ مَاءَ الْمَرْأَةِ نَزَعَ الْوَلَدَ وَإِذَا سَبَقَ مَاءُ الْمَرْأَةِ مَاءَ الرَّجُلِ نَزَعَتْ الْوَلَدَ
"As for the child, if the man's water precedes the woman's water, the child resembles him, and if the woman's water precedes the man's water, the child resembles her." This is clarified by what Muslim narrated in his Sahih via Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (saw), that one of the Jewish rabbis asked the Prophet (saw) and the Messenger answered him in a long hadith, until he said: I have come to ask you about the child. The Messenger (saw) answered him:
فإذا اجتمعا، "أي ماء الرجل وماء المرأة"، فَعَلَا مَنِيُّ الرَّجُلِ مَنِيَّ الْمَرْأَةِ أَذْكَرَا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَإِذَا عَلَا مَنِيُّ الْمَرْأَةِ مَنِيَّ الرَّجُلِ آنَثَا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
"When the two meet—meaning the water of the man and the water of the woman—and the man's discharge prevails over the woman's discharge, it becomes a male by Allah's permission, and when the woman's discharge prevails over the man's discharge, it becomes a female by Allah's permission." Naturally, the man's water prevailing over the female's water means that the man's water comes on top of the female's water, and nothing comes on top of something unless that thing was present before. In this case, there is more room for a male child by Allah's permission, and the opposite is true if the woman's water prevails over the man's water, so her water comes after his water, and in this case, there is more room for a female child by Allah's permission.
- Then they reached a scientific method which they said was more technical, which is the method of selective insemination of sperm, as they called it. This method requires conducting experiments on sperm to separate the female sex chromosome (X) from the male chromosome (Y) in a test tube—i.e., separating it outside the body by different methods. This requires technical medical intervention...
The idea for scientists is that they found that the chromosomes of the sperm are YX (Y is the male part in it, X is the female part in it). They found that the chromosomes of the egg are XX (i.e., both parts are female). They found that the male part in the sperm (Y), if it is the one that fertilizes the egg, consequently produces YX, i.e., a male fetus. If the female part in the sperm (X) is the one that fertilizes the egg, consequently it produces XX, i.e., a female fetus. Accordingly, they conducted experiments to separate the male part (Y) in the sperm from the female (X), then they fertilize the egg in the tube with the male part if they want a male fetus, and fertilize the egg with the female part in the sperm if they want a female fetus.
There is a method similar to it with a slight difference. This method is carried out after fertilizing the eggs in the tube; they are then examined after fertilization. The fertilized egg that carries XX will be a female, and the one that carries XY will be a male. Whoever desires a male, the XY fertilized egg is implanted in her uterus, and whoever wants a female, the XX fertilized egg is implanted in her uterus. The two methods are similar in terms of purpose, except that the first involves examining the sperm before fertilization and separating the male part from the female part, while the second involves examining the fertilized eggs (embryos) and then separating the male embryos from the female ones.
These are the overall human attempts to choose the gender of the offspring since ancient times until our present era.
After knowing the reality—i.e., verifying the manat (the subject of the ruling)—we explain the Shar'i ruling as follows:
A. As for killing the unwanted child, it is haram because it is the intentional, premeditated killing of a soul. Its reward in the Hereafter is Hellfire, to abide therein forever:
وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا
"But whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment." (An-Nisa [4]: 93). And its punishment in this world is Qisas (retaliation), i.e., execution if the guardian of the victim does not forgive, or the Diyah (blood money).
B. As for killing the fetus while it is in its mother's womb when its family knows it is undesired—such as if it were female and the father wanted a male—it is also haram and carries a punishment... Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated via Abu Hurayrah, and the wording is for Al-Bukhari, who said:
اقْتَتَلَتْ امْرَأَتَانِ مِنْ هُذَيْلٍ فَرَمَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَى بِحَجَرٍ فَقَتَلَتْهَا وَمَا فِي بَطْنِهَا فَاخْتَصَمُوا إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَضَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّ دِيَةَ جَنِينِهَا غُرَّةٌ عَبْدٌ أَوْ وَلِيدَةٌ...
"Two women from Hudhayl fought. One of them threw a stone at the other and killed her and what was in her womb. They took the dispute to the Messenger of Allah (saw), and the Messenger of Allah (saw) judged that the diyah (indemnity) for her fetus is a ghurrah (a slave or a bondwoman)..."
C. Adopting 'azl, whether it be by temporary abstention from intercourse for certain days, or by intercourse with external discharge during those days, as well as nutrition with certain types of food, or washing the vagina with an alkaline or basic "douche," or an acidic one—all of this is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it.
As for 'azl, it is due to the hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari via Abu Sa'id al-Khudri who said:
... فَأَرَدْنَا أَنْ نَعْزِلَ وَقُلْنَا نَعْزِلُ وَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَيْنَ أَظْهُرِنَا قَبْلَ أَنْ نَسْأَلَهُ فَسَأَلْنَاهُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ مَا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ لَا تَفْعَلُوا مَا مِنْ نَسَمَةٍ كَائِنَةٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ إِلَّا وَهِيَ كَائِنَةٌ
"...We intended to practice 'azl and said: we practice 'azl while the Messenger of Allah (saw) is among us before we ask him? So we asked him about that and he said: 'It does not matter if you do not do it, for there is no soul that is to exist until the Day of Resurrection except that it will exist.'" Muslim narrated similar to it.
As for nutrition and washing, it is due to the general evidences regarding eating, drinking, and washing...
D. As for separating the male part from the female part of the sperm and then performing fertilization of the egg with the male part if they want a male child, and with the female part if they want a female child, or separating male embryos from female ones and implanting the desired embryo in the uterus—these operations are not permissible because they are not a medicine (dawa'). That is, they are not a treatment for pregnancy for a woman who does not conceive and was treated to conceive. In other words, it is not a treatment for the inability to fertilize the wife's egg with the husband's sperm through natural means, where medicine was resorted to for fertilizing the egg in a tube... Rather, it is another matter related to separating male parts from female parts in the sperm or separating embryos, and it is not a treatment for the pregnancy that is difficult for the woman through natural means. That is, these operations are not medicine for the disease of infertility.
Since these operations cannot be performed except by uncovering the awrah (private parts)—because the process of taking eggs and re-implanting them requires that—and uncovering the awrah is haram, and this haram is not permissible except for medicine. As long as these operations are not medicine, they are therefore haram and not permissible.
In conclusion, it is necessary to mention an important fact connected to the Aqeedah (creed)—i.e., the Islam of a person depends on it. This fact is that all these operations and procedures do not mean that man is capable of creating. Rather, he observes characteristics and qualities that Allah (swt) has placed in the male and female characteristics and the method of fertilization; he analyzes what he sees and conducts experiments on what he observes... so he uses certain foods, creates certain environments, separates the male part from the female... and conducts fertilization operations and returns them to the uterus... etc. All of that does not produce creation; rather, it requires the power of the Creator (swt). If Allah decrees from it a living creation, it will be; if Allah (swt) decrees from it a dead creation, it will be; and if Allah does not decree from it a creation, it will not be, no matter what the experiments were.
Whatever Allah decreed to be created exists, and what He did not decree to be created does not exist.
This matter—that Allah (swt) alone is the Creator, and that He alone is the One who creates the male and creates the female—is established by evidences of definitive transmission (qati' al-thubut) and definitive meaning (qati' al-dalalah), including:
ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَاعْبُدُوهُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَكِيلٌ
"That is Allah, your Lord; there is no deity except Him, the Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He is Disposer of all things." (Al-An'am [6]: 102)
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ الْخَلَّاقُ الْعَلِيمُ
"Indeed, your Lord - He is the Knowing Creator." (Al-Hijr [15]: 86)
أَفَمَنْ يَخْلُقُ كَمَنْ لَا يَخْلُقُ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
"Then is He who creates like one who does not create? So will you not be reminded?" (An-Nahl [16]: 17)
هَذَا خَلْقُ اللَّهِ فَأَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ دُونِهِ بَلِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ
"This is the creation of Allah. So show Me what those other than Him have created. Rather, the wrongdoers are in clear error." (Luqman [31]: 11)
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لَنْ يَخْلُقُوا ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا لَهُ وَإِنْ يَسْلُبْهُمُ الذُّبَابُ شَيْئًا لَا يَسْتَنْقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ وَالْمَطْلُوبُ
"O people, an example is presented, so listen to it. Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should steal from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and the pursued." (Al-Hajj [22]: 73)
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِنَ الْبَعْثِ فَإِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ تُرَابٍ * ثُمَّ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ عَلَقَةٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ مُضْغَةٍ مُخَلَّقَةٍ وَغَيْرِ مُخَلَّقَةٍ لِنُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ وَنُقِرُّ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ مَا نَشَاءُ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ثُمَّ نُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُوا أَشُدَّكُمْ وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُتَوَفَّى وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ لِكَيْلَا يَعْلَمَ مِنْ بَعْدِ عِلْمٍ شَيْئًا وَتَرَى الْأَرْضَ هَامِدَةً فَإِذَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَاءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنْبَتَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ
"O people, if you should be in doubt about the Resurrection, then [consider that] indeed, We created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot, and then from a lump of flesh, formed and unformed - that We may show you. And We settle in the wombs whom We will for a specified term, then We bring you out as a child, and then [We develop you] that you may reach your [time of] maturity. And among you is he who is taken in [early] death, and among you is he who is returned to the most abject [condition of] old age so that he knows, after [once having] knowledge, nothing. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down upon it rain, it quivers and swells and grows [something] of every beautiful kind." (Al-Hajj [22]: 5)
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ سُلَالَةٍ مِنْ طِينٍ * ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَكِينٍ * ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنْشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آَخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ
"And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators." (Al-Mu'minun [23]: 12-14)
لِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ يَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ إِنَاثًا وَيَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ الذُّكُورَ * أَوْ يُزَوِّجُهُمْ ذُكْرَانًا وَإِنَاثًا وَيَجْعَلُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ عَقِيمًا إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ
"To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates what he wills. He gives to whom He wills female [children], and He gives to whom He wills males. Or He makes them [both] males and females, and He renders whom He wills barren. Indeed, He is Knowing and Competent." (Ash-Shura [42]: 49-50)
يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنْسَانُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ * الَّذِي خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّاكَ فَعَدَلَكَ * فِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ مَا شَاءَ رَكَّبَكَ
"O man, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous, Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you? In whatever form He willed has He assembled you." (Al-Infitar [82]: 6-8)
هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَوِّرُكُمْ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
"It is He who forms you in the wombs however He wills. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise." (Ali 'Imran [3]: 6)
Therefore, this must be realized well, so that the Muslim does not deviate or go astray, and Allah forbid.
Allah (swt) has deposited sciences in this universe and taught man what he did not know. He placed in him the property of intellect, thinking, and contemplation so that those who believe may increase in faith, and those who disbelieve may be thrown on their faces in disgrace in this world, and a painful punishment in the Hereafter.
And our last prayer is that praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.