. In the wake of the February 1997 announcement that Dolly the sheep had been cloned, Muslim religious scholars together with Muslim scientists held two conferences to discuss cloning from an Islamic perspective. They were organized by two influential Islamic international religioscientific institutions: the Islamic Organization of Medical Sciences and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy. Both institutions comprise a large number of prominent religious scholars and well‐known scientists who participated in the discussions at the conferences. This article gives a comprehensive (...) analysis of these conferences, the relation between science and religion as reflected in the discussions there, and the further influence of these discussions on Muslims living in the West. Modern discussions on Islamic bioethics show that formulating an Islamic perspective on these issues is not the exclusive prerogative of religious scholars. Formulating such perspectives has become a collective process in which scientists play an essential role. Such a collective approach strengthens the religious authority of Muslim scholars and makes it more influential rather than undermining it. (shrink)

This paper investigates the extent to which reliance on DNA analysis for paternity verification conflicts with the Islamic law of paternity. More particularly, it seeks to examine the extent to which DNA testing can be equated with the classical method of physiognomy as its modern equivalent. Depending on whether such a relationship can be drawn, Sharīʿa ruling on the former will be no different from its ruling on the latter. Although the majority opinion of modern Muslim jurists recognizes DNA testing (...) as a reliable scientific method that can be used, to varying degrees, for paternity verification, such recognition is made by appeal to Islamic legal methodology and within the boundaries defined by it. The paper thus illustrates not only the extent to which DNA analysis is legitimized but also the efforts of Muslim jurists to enable the Islamic law of paternity to cope with modern scientific challenges. (shrink)