Islam, scientific discoveries and cloning

Concerning the ability of Islam to face this scientific development, His Eminence says: "Islam has been making a development in science ever since it has emerged. It is Islam that has made the human culture over hundreds of years."

Moreover, it is Islam that gave the West the scientific base that considers experimenting as the source of knowledge. The Greek thought, from Plato to Aristotle, considered contemplation to be the source of knowledge. Islam came suddenly to place experiment, through the Holy Quran and the Muslim thinkers, on equal footing with contemplation as sources of energy.

This movement of experiment, as the source of knowledge, enabled the West to reach what it has reached so far, in discovering the facts of life and things. We have seen how the Muslim scholars, such as Ibn Sina, Ibn Nafis, Jaber Bin Hayan, and others, were able, for a longtime, to provide the West with the knowledge they produced and the facts they discovered.

There is something special about Islam. Islam considers the mind as the base of responsibility and the base of sound thought. Islam always wanted faith to rise from the mind. Therefore, Islam does not accept imitation in faith.

If this Fatwa is considered unique, not only in the Islamic world but also in the Christian world, and if it has, at the same time, constituted a shock to what is familiar, the Sayyed considers: "The issue is not whether this Fatwa contradicts with what is familiar or not, but the question is: Is it right in the jurisprudent sense?" I do not claim that I am infallible; I simply say that this issue could be discussed. Actually, my jurisprudent opinion is open to discussion, and if I am proven wrong, I would simply change the ruling.

It is not an issue of a subjective opinion, as much as it is an objective one, and about how much it conforms to the truth.

The Pope and other religious authorities banned cloning, because they only considered the negative moral consequences. In fact, I did not study the moral side of this case to issue a positive or negative ruling on this basis, but I studied the issue through the nature of its objective elements.

About the concerns he thought of when studying the issue of cloning, the Sayyed presents his opinion in accordance with what he has reached in his studies without putting, at the same time, an end to dialogue and discussion. This clearly appears in his saying: I was not afraid of the opposing stances to my opinion, because I believe that a person should say what he believes in, regardless of the negative reactions that he might receive.

At least, this is my opinion, and as I have said, I am not infallible. This is what I have reached in my researches. Furthermore, if there is another opinion, I am ready to discuss it. If I discover that I was wrong, I have the courage to admit so.

As for the threats that might result from cloning in the future, I had my reservations when I expressed my view, which means that we still have a lot of studies to do to determine the positive and negative aspects, and accordingly, to follow up with the proper Fatwas.