The symposium thinks that it is permissible to use it to prevent, treat or mitigate disease, whether through gene surgery which replaces one gene with another or inserts a gene into the patient’s cells, or inserts a gene into another living being in order to replicate that gene in larger numbers so that it may be used to treat some diseases. However, use of genetic engineering on reproductive cells should be prevented, because of the shar‘i reservations concerning that.
The symposium affirms the necessity of states providing such services to their citizens of modest income who need it, because it is very costly to provide.
The symposium thinks that it is not permissible to use genetic engineering for evil purposes or to cross the genetic barrier between different species for the purpose of creating hybrid beings for the purpose of entertainment or out of scientific curiosity.
Similarly, the symposium thinks that it is not permissible to use genetic engineering as a means of changing the genetic structure for the purpose of what is called eugenics, or any attempt to tamper with the genetic make-up of humans, or to interfere with an individual’s ability to be individually responsible. All of these are matters that are prohibited according to Islamic teachings. …
The symposium does not think that there is anything wrong, in Islamic terms, with using genetic engineering in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry, but the symposium cannot ignore the voices that have recently warned of the possibility of long-term harm that could affect humans, animals, agriculture or the environment, and it thinks that companies and factories that produce foods of animal or vegetable origin should point out to the public anything offered for sale that is produced through genetic engineering (or genetic modification – GMO), so that the purchaser will be aware of what he is buying. The symposium also recommends monitoring the consequences of genetic modification of foods, and they should follow the advice and recommendations of the US Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organisation and the World Food Programme in particular.
The symposium notes the necessity of establishing organizations to protect and educate consumers in the Muslim world.
In other recommendations, it says:
12. The scholars of the Muslim world should write books simplifying scientific information about heredity and genetic engineering, so as to spread awareness and support concerning this issue.
13. Muslim countries should introduce genetic engineering through a program of education at various levels, paying particular attention to university studies and postgraduate education."(Majallat Majma‘ al-Fiqh al-Islami, issue no. 11, Vol. 3, p.533).
Based on that, there is nothing wrong with studying human genetic engineering and using it for beneficial and permissible purposes only.