Analytical Study of Islamic Law Principles on Reproductive Rights and Their Application in Northern Nigerian Bioethics Contexts

Islamic jurisprudence addresses reproductive questions including contraception, abortion, and assisted reproduction through doctrinal frameworks derived from the objectives of protecting life and lineage within the Maqasid al-Shariah hierarchy. The application of Islamic reproductive law principles to contemporary bioethics challenges in northern Nigerian healthcare contexts, including in vitro fertilisation, surrogacy, and therapeutic abortion, represents a significant analytical gap in both Islamic bioethics and Nigerian medical law literature. This study analytically examines Islamic law principles governing reproduction and their application to contemporary bioethical challenges in northern Nigeria. A comparative doctrinal and bioethics methodology is applied, reviewing the classical Fiqh positions of all four Sunni schools on contraception, abortion before and after ensoulment, and donor gamete use alongside contemporary fatawa from the OIC Fiqh Academy and Nigerian Islamic Medical Association on assisted reproduction. Structured interviews with fifteen Islamic scholars and ten northern Nigerian medical ethics practitioners supplement the documentary analysis. Available Islamic bioethics literature from Nigeria identifies the OIC Fiqh Council prohibition on donor sperm and surrogacy as the most frequently contested reproductive law positions among northern Nigerian medical practitioners. The Maqasid objective of protecting lineage and the principle of Darura (necessity) provide the normative analytical framework. Findings are expected to identify significant doctrinal consensus on some questions alongside persistent disagreement on others. Recommendations address a Nigerian Islamic medical ethics committee framework and Fatwa guidance on assisted reproduction. Keywords: Islamic bioethics, reproductive rights, northern Nigeria, Maqasid, assisted reproduction.