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This is an overview of the diversity with which Shiite scholars in Iran have evaluated the permissibility of assisted reproductive technologies and paved the way to the enactment of the Act on Embryo Donation to Infertile Spouses in 2003. There is a substantial diversity of opinions between Muslim scholars, with Sunni authorities having evaluated all forms of heterologous procedure as being forbidden. They have justified this with reference to safeguarding filiation, the prevention of non-marital sexual intercourse, the danger of mixing relations between marriable and unmarriable relatives and the avoidance of incestuous marriages. Shiite scholars, especially the Iranian Grand Ayatollahs, have come to different positions, with particularly the current Supreme Leader Ali Khamene’i allowing all forms of assisted reproductive technologies including third-party gamete donation. The religious debates, however, remain consequential rather than deontological: Many important ethical and legal issues have not been discussed among the scholars and not addressed by the Act on Embryo Donation. Infertile couples have therefore deployed their own strategies to deal with the emotional, legal, religious and social consequences of conceiving by third-party donation.
Studies in Islamic Law and Society accommodates monographs, collections of essays, critical editions of texts with annotated translation, and reference works whose subject-matter lies within the field of classical and modern Islamic law. Both the study of legal texts and legal discourse and the study of the social circumstances in which law has been and is being shaped - the reciprocity of influence of law on society and society on law - are integral to the series, and works representing either type of study or both will be considered for inclusion. Studies in Islamic Law and Society provides a focal point for scholars researching Islamic law both as a medium in its own right and as a phenomenon inviting historical and social analysis.