At the kind invitation of the Kuwait-based Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences (IOMS), H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, participated online in the international symposium entitled Bioprinting: Opportunities and Challenges from an Islamic Perspective, on Sunday morning 9 Rabi al-Awal 1445, corresponding to 24 September 2023.

His Excellency delivered a speech at the opening session in which he expressed his sincere thanks for organizing this international scientific symposium on an important biomedical subject that is witnessing developments day after day and achieving remarkable progress, based on the use of special biological materials instead of plastic and metal materials to treat a number of chronic and incurable diseases, such as joint roughness, liver and kidney damage, and damaged parts of the body as a result of some diseases.

Bioprinting aims to replace damaged bones and dispense with artificial joints by treating their roughness with biomaterials, as well as manufacturing some surgical tools and medical electronics, indicating that the greatest goal of this type of regenerative medicine is to return man to the state in which God created him, as Allah said in the Quran: “We have certainly created man in the best of stature”. This is in no way intended to clone or imitate Allah’s creation, but rather it is considered a blessed qualitative development in field of medicine called regenerative medicine.

His Excellency explained the importance of embracing these medical developments that will enable humanity to treat many chronicle diseases and talked about the importance of dealing with them in a wise manner, starting from the general principles of Sharia, which calls for medical treatment. Hence, dealing with calamities and medical developments such as bioprinting and others should be based on considering them as one of the means of preserving the five necessary objectives of protecting life, religion, mind, offspring, and wealth.

Every scientific and medical discovery through which the Sharia objectives are maintained is governed by the same ruling as the objectives themselves, based on the famous Fiqh maxim that stipulates that “means take the rulings of objectives”, which means the necessity of being open to these developments, and carefully understanding them well before issuing a ruling about them. One should also make maximum use of the jurisprudential maxims when dealing with calamities and medical developments, especially the maxim of “the basis of treatment is being obligatory”, and “the basis of medicines being permissibility and permission”, which means the necessity to stay away from rushing to prohibit anything new and be wary of every scientific discovery. In fact, it should be praised and cherished while ensuring that it does not contain clear, permanent evils.

His Excellency pointed out that the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, since its inception, has been seeking the assistance of specialized experts in various scientific fields, especially medical ones, in order to provide a complete and comprehensive vision of the medical calamity or the new incident in preparation for clarifying the appropriate Sharia rulings for it. His Excellency praised the efforts of the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences in this field, stressing that it has been the Academy’s strategic partner and even a full member of the Council of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy. The Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences is almost the only member of the Council of the Academy in terms of medical fields, in appreciation of its efforts in following up on medical developments and calamities. At the conclusion of his brief speech, His Excellency renewed the call to support research and scientific efforts in universities, colleges, and institutes with moral and material support, to enable participation in scientific discoveries, and to formulate standards capable of preserving the well-known Sharia objectives.

A number of contemporary jurists and a number of doctors specializing in this medical field participated in the conference, highlighting to the scholars’ accurate facts regarding bioprinting and the rapid developments it is witnessing, and assuring them that there is no point in apprehension and fear, but rather it is necessary to contribute to its advancement.