Shia Jurists' Opinion concerning Human Cloning

When a new topic or issue emerges or arises, the jurists of that particular era are duty-bound to study it from various angles as well as to derive its legal rulings with reliance on the Quran and prophetic traditions. One of the current-day issues that need to be dealt with is human cloning. Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of an existing, or previously existing, human being or growing cloned tissue from that individual without having to insert male or female sexual cells into one another. Human cloning is a highly controversial issue. The proponents of cloning take recourse to arguments such as the following: 1- There is no legal proof to oppose cloning. 2- Cloning has great positive impacts on humanity such as diagnosing cancerous diseases, causes of abortion, immunity against illnesses, fertility of infertile couples and helping future generations to live better lives. The opponents also resort to certain arguments. For example, they say that cloning leads to amalgamation of the parentage; it is a kind of intervention in the affairs of God and it is tantamount to creating a change in God's creation. Furthermore, inheritance related problems will arise.