Legitimacy of Cultured Meat in Islamic Law

Islamic law has made restrictions on foods in terms of halal and haram. However, as the emerging technological innovations allow to modify the ingredients of foods and beverages, the ruling of such modifications is disputed. In fact, cultured meat, which is a sustainable solution to meet the increasing meat demand, stands as a solid example of such discussions. Within the literature, cultured meat is widely studied in terms of engineering of production process and its positive and negative effects on human health, but the studies on Islamic jurisprudential aspects of this technology is limited. This study aims to discuss the legitimacy of cultured meat from the view of Islamic Law. First, the halal and haram criteria of Islamic law on food are investigated. Subsequently, information about the type of stem cells used in the production of cultured meat, the production process and the methods used in the process are explained, and the advantages and disadvantages of cultured meat produced by the certain methods are discussed. Finally, from the perspective of Islamic law, the stem cells used in the production of cultured meat, the serum used in the production environment and cultured meat as a whole concept are discussed in terms of fiqh principles.