Al-Mutlaq answers • Al-Marsad Newspaper

Al-Marsad Newspaper: A member of the Council of Senior Scholars, Dr. Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, explained the ruling on destroying embryos that contain a genetic disease that causes risks that may lead to the death of children, such as spinal muscular atrophy.

He said during an interview with the “Fatwas” program broadcast on Al-Resala channel: “There are two cases: the first is killing the sperm before fertilizing it, and the second is killing the sperm fertilized with the egg within 40 days, and this is permissible because it is the stage of the sperm.”

And he added: If it was after 40 days and before 4 months, i.e. before the soul is blown, then the scholars differed about it, and some of them said that it is not permissible to destroy it because the sperm has attached to the egg and the embryo is in its infancy.

And he continued: While some said that the fetus is still a piece of meat and the soul has not been breathed into it, and it may be proven that it is infected and that it may be aborted.

#fatwas | The third question: What is the ruling on destroying embryos that contain this genetic disease, which causes risks that may lead to the death of children? pic.twitter.com/9zUpnV6ujA

– Fatawa (@Fatawa_sa) January 15, 2023