Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Islam and Environmental Law
- The Cambridge Handbook of Islam and Environmental Law
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Islamic Policy of Environmental Conservation
- 2 Acknowledging Environmental Externalities in Islamic Legal Critiques of Corporate Personhood
- 3 Islamic Ethics, Decarbonization, and Climate Change in the Middle East
- 4 Environmental Stewardship in Islamic Law
- 5 Dignity Law and the Environment in Pakistan
- 6 Oil and Institutional Stasis in the Persian Gulf
- 7 Militarism, Climate Emissions, and Islamic Environmental Ethics
- 8 A Concise Overview of the Classical Islamic Coastal and Marine Environmental Law
- 9 Property Rights for Landless Agricultural Workers and the Flexibility of Hanafi Land Law Jurisprudence
- 10 A History of the Ḥimā Conservation System
- 11 The Right to Water in Islamic Thought and Its Manifestation in the Islamic-Iranian Cities
- 12 Intellectual Property and the Protection of the Environment in Nigeria
- 13 A Critical Appraisal of State-Supported, ‘Public’ Islamic Environmental Law through the Case Studies of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia
- 14 Redefining an Islamic ‘Good Life’
- 15 Islamic Legal Perspectives on Genetically Modified Food (GMF)
- 16 Sheikh Asim Farooq v. Federation of Pakistan
- 17 The Making and Message of Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth
- 18 Towards Environmental Sustainability
- 19 Arabic Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of the Thirteenth Century
- 20 Islamic Environmental Law Revisited as an Academic Discipline
- 21 Animal Ethics in Islam
- 22 Islamic Finance and Environmental Law
- 23 Towards an Islamic Energy Ethic and Praxis
- 24 The Protection of Basic Natural Resources and Man under Islamic Law
- 25 Faith-Based Approaches to Ecological Harmony and Environmental Protection
- 26 Charting the Future of Islamic Environmental Law in an Age of Planetary Crisis
- Index
15 - Islamic Legal Perspectives on Genetically Modified Food (GMF)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 April 2026
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Islam and Environmental Law
- The Cambridge Handbook of Islam and Environmental Law
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Islamic Policy of Environmental Conservation
- 2 Acknowledging Environmental Externalities in Islamic Legal Critiques of Corporate Personhood
- 3 Islamic Ethics, Decarbonization, and Climate Change in the Middle East
- 4 Environmental Stewardship in Islamic Law
- 5 Dignity Law and the Environment in Pakistan
- 6 Oil and Institutional Stasis in the Persian Gulf
- 7 Militarism, Climate Emissions, and Islamic Environmental Ethics
- 8 A Concise Overview of the Classical Islamic Coastal and Marine Environmental Law
- 9 Property Rights for Landless Agricultural Workers and the Flexibility of Hanafi Land Law Jurisprudence
- 10 A History of the Ḥimā Conservation System
- 11 The Right to Water in Islamic Thought and Its Manifestation in the Islamic-Iranian Cities
- 12 Intellectual Property and the Protection of the Environment in Nigeria
- 13 A Critical Appraisal of State-Supported, ‘Public’ Islamic Environmental Law through the Case Studies of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia
- 14 Redefining an Islamic ‘Good Life’
- 15 Islamic Legal Perspectives on Genetically Modified Food (GMF)
- 16 Sheikh Asim Farooq v. Federation of Pakistan
- 17 The Making and Message of Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth
- 18 Towards Environmental Sustainability
- 19 Arabic Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of the Thirteenth Century
- 20 Islamic Environmental Law Revisited as an Academic Discipline
- 21 Animal Ethics in Islam
- 22 Islamic Finance and Environmental Law
- 23 Towards an Islamic Energy Ethic and Praxis
- 24 The Protection of Basic Natural Resources and Man under Islamic Law
- 25 Faith-Based Approaches to Ecological Harmony and Environmental Protection
- 26 Charting the Future of Islamic Environmental Law in an Age of Planetary Crisis
- Index
Summary
Genetically modified food (GMF) is part of our realities as consumers worldwide. The techniques and possibilities involved do require an Islamic legal (fiqhi) study as to assess GMF with regard to its consumption, production and related research. The paper focuses on placing the study of GMF within a holistic context, under consideration of the societal background and rationale it has been developed under. It investigates into the possibility of transferring fiqhi devices such as istihalah (chemical transformation), istihlak (extreme dilution) and others to GMF combining genetic material from permissible and non-permissible sources. It raises a number of deliberations and concerns with regard to the usage of the maqasidi scheme and discusses the permissibility of GMF under the aspects of changing creation or harnessing nature.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Islam and Environmental Law , pp. 186 - 199Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AAA
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
The HTML of this chapter
complies with version 2.2 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), offering more comprehensive accessibility measures for a broad range
of users and attains the highest
(AAA)
level of WCAG compliance, optimising the user experience by meeting the most extensive
accessibility guidelines.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
Full alternative textual descriptions
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
Visualised data also available as non-graphical data
You can access graphs or charts in a text or tabular format, so you are not excluded if you cannot process visual displays.
You can access graphs or charts in a text or tabular format, so you are not excluded if you cannot process visual displays.
Visual Accessibility
Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
Use of high contrast between text and background colour
You benefit from high‐contrast text, which improves legibility if you have low vision or if you are reading in less‐than‐ideal lighting conditions.
You benefit from high‐contrast text, which improves legibility if you have low vision or if you are reading in less‐than‐ideal lighting conditions.