Is it permissible to find out the gender of a child using ultrasound?
Question
Doctors usually do ultrasound during pregnancy but determining the sex of the child is optional. We could not resist the excitement and found about it but now are afaraid that we might have done wrong. Please clarify. JazakAllah Khairan.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
If the scan was conducted by a female, then it is permissible. It is, however, prohibited for a female to unnecessarily reveal her body to a male sonographer.
As regards to finding out the gender of the child through the scan, it is not prohibited. However, experience has revealed that the information is not always correct (which can be disturbing to some parents) as the sonographer can be wrong or cannot properly get a good view during the ultrasound leading her to make a mistake. [i]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
المسائل المهمة فیما ابتلت به العامة، ٥/ ٢٣٩ و ٩/ ٢٩٠؛ جامعة إسلامية اشاعات العلوم اكل كاو [i]
- Answered by
- Mufti Ebrahim Desai
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