How Should I Balance Tawakkul and IVF After Ovarian Cancer?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

I am twenty-five, recently married, and lost both ovaries to cancer treatment; my uterus and remnant ovarian tissue are intact.

My husband and I deeply wish for children. What does Islam say about our options, including IVF with donor eggs?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.

May Allah heal you completely, draw your heart close to Him, and bless your marriage with what is best for you in both worlds.

The weight you are carrying is real. Your turning to your Lord with this question, at this point in your life, is itself a station the righteous servants of Allah (awliya) have stood in.

The Ruling First; The Heart of It Follows

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is permitted in Islam under specific conditions:

One. The sperm must come from your husband.
Two. The egg must come from you.
Three. The embryo must be carried in your own uterus.
Four. All of this must take place within a valid marriage.

This is the position of the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Resolution 16, Jeddah, 1986). It is the broad mainstream of contemporary Sunni scholarship, including Mufti Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him).

What Allah and His Messenger Do Not Allow

Donor sperm, donor eggs, and surrogacy fall outside what the Sharia permits. Each breaks the protection of nasab (lineage), which Allah names as His own creation:

“And it is He who created man from water, and gave him kinship by blood and by marriage; and thy Lord is ever All-Powerful.” [Quran 25:54; Keller, The Quran Beheld].

Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (Allah have mercy on him) notes that lineage by blood and kinship by marriage are named here as creations of Allah, protected in their integrity by His own design. [Razi, Mafatih al-Ghayb]

Your Situation

For your situation, IVF is Islamically permissible with your egg, your husband’s sperm, and your own womb. May Allah make it easy.

If retrieval is not medically possible, donor egg IVF remains outside what mainstream Islamic scholarship permits.

That is the legal frame. Hold it next to what follows, because the law is only half the answer your heart is asking.

The Trust That Carries You Through

Allah Most High says: “And whoever fears Allah, He shall make for him a way forth, and provide for him from whence he reckons not; and whoever places his trust in Allah, He shall suffice him. Truly Allah brings about His affair; indeed Allah has appointed for everything a measure.” [Quran 65:2-3; Keller, The Quran Beheld].

Imam Razi (Allah have mercy on him) notes that the verse promises a way out, not necessarily the way the servant pictured; the provision comes from doors he had not seen. [Razi, Mafatih al-Ghayb]

Imam Qushayri (Allah have mercy on him), reading the same verse in Lata’if al-Isharat, names three stations of trust in Allah (tawakkul).

The faithful believer relies on Allah (tawakkul).

The actively-trusting believer (muttawakkil)1 consigns affairs to Allah.

The believer truly realized in trust (muttamakkin) sees Allah’s hand both in what reaches and in what passes by, and receives both as a single mercy. [Qushayri, Lata’if al-Isharat]

Imam Ibn Ajiba (Allah have mercy on him), in al-Bahr al-Madid, comments on the same verse: Allah suffices the servant who relies on Him in everything that concerns them. He is the All-Knowing, All-Wise.

Nothing in His decree is empty of His wisdom. Nothing reaches the servant that was not weighed in love before it arrived [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid].

The Wisdom of a Contemporary Scholar

Shaykh Nuh Keller (Allah preserve him), in Sea Without Shore, writes of the believer’s relationship to the decree:

The heart is brought, slowly, to see that what reached the servant was the gift. What passed by was also the gift. Both came from a Beloved whose mercy is the substance of every breath.

The path is the heart’s long training to look past the apparent loss to the Reality behind it; the One who never sends what is not, in its hidden meaning, mercy [Keller, Sea Without Shore].

This is not a resignation. Rather, it is the active trust of someone who has tasted, even briefly, that Allah is closer than His decree.

The Company You Are In

Hanna was barren; Maryam was given. Zakariyya (peace be upon him) prayed in his old age, after seeing Maryam provide fruit out of season:

رَبِّ لَا تَذَرْنِي فَرْدًا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ ٱلْوَٰرِثِينَ

“My Lord, leave me not childless, though Thou art the best of inheritors.” [Quran 21:89; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Imam Abu al-Su’ud (Allah have mercy on him) notes the courtesy of the Prophet’s words.

Zakariyya did not insist on a child. He placed the need before his Lord and acknowledged Allah as the best of inheritors, leaving the form of the answer to Him. [Abu al-Su‘ud, Irshad al-Aql al-Salim]

Imam Razi (Allah have mercy on him) adds that the seeing of one mercy (Maryam fed out of season) stirred Zakariyya’s hope for another. [Razi, Mafatih al-Ghayb]

Allah answered him with Yahya (peace be upon him).

The Broader Reality the Quran Makes Clear

The Quran says of the broader matter: “Unto Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates what He will. He grants daughters to whom He will, and grants sons to whom He will, or pairs them sons and daughters; and He makes barren whom He will. Truly, He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.” [Quran 42:49-50; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Imam Razi (Allah have mercy on him) observes that the verse names daughters first, then sons, then both, then barren; the order honors what people often grieve.

The verse closes on the two names that steady the heart: All-Knowing, because He knows the wisdom; All-Powerful, because He could change the matter if changing were the mercy. [Razi, Mafatih al-Ghayb]

What Your Motherhood Already Is

If biological motherhood through your own gametes turns out not to be possible, the door of motherhood is not closed.

Adoption through the framework of Islamic guardianship (kafala) of an orphan or a child in need is a path the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught and praised.

Our Beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “I and the carer of an orphan will be in Paradise like this,” and he held two fingers together. [Bukhari]

In Sharia, the mother is the woman who feeds, raises, and pours love into a child until they stand on their own. She is not only the woman who bears.

This is a Reality That Affects Many–For Believing Women, It Too Is a Door to Allah

Sister, what you are facing has been faced by women in this Umma for fourteen centuries, and Allah has carried every one of them.

Some, He gave biological children. Some, He gave children through other paths. All of them, He drew nearer to Himself through the very thing they feared.

Your first instinct after this loss was to ask, “What does my Lord want of me?”

That is itself a sign. Your heart is being shaped for something good.

Trust the One who took you through cancer and brought you to a husband who wants this with you. He has not stopped working on your behalf.

Your motherhood, in whatever form Allah decrees, has already begun: the love is there.

The form is in His hands. Allah the Merciful reminds us: “Does Allah not suffice His slave against all?” [Quran 39:36, Keller, The Quran Beheld]

And Allah knows best.

[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani

Here are the related SeekersGuidance answers that address the specific legal, practical, and spiritual dimensions of your situation:

Is In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Permissible in Islam? This answer outlines that IVF is fully permissible in Islam provided that the procedure strictly uses the biological materials of a legally married husband and wife. The resulting embryo must also be transferred back into the uterus of the same wife during the validity of their marriage.

What Is the Islamic Ruling on Using Donor Eggs for IVF? This article explains that using third-party genetic material, such as donor eggs or donor sperm, is strictly prohibited in Sunni jurisprudence. Islam emphasizes the protection of lineage, meaning a child must only inherit the direct genetic makeup of their legally wedded mother and father.

Can We Donate Our Excess Embryos After IVF for Adoption to Other Families? This ruling clarifies that donating excess embryos to other couples is forbidden because it introduces external genetics into another marriage, disrupting legal lineage. Unused embryos within a marriage must be allowed to expire naturally or be safely disposed of rather than transferred to another family.

The Reality of Adoption and Fostering (Kafala) in Islam This answer differentiates between Western adoption—which is prohibited because it legally erases a child’s biological name and true lineage—and Islamic fostering (kafala). Sponsoring and raising an orphan or needy child is a highly praised, deeply rewarded alternative that fulfills the desire to parent.

Dealing with Infertility and the Desire to Have Children: A Spiritual Counsel This resource offers profound spiritual comfort for couples facing reproductive obstacles. It emphasizes pursuing permissible medical treatments while maintaining a content reliance on Allah’s wisdom, sharing specific prophetic supplications from Prophets Zakariya and Ibrahim (peace be upon them).

Rulings on Remnant Ovarian Tissue and Shariah Medical Exceptions This perspective advises couples to consult with ethical Muslim fertility specialists regarding the possibility of extracting cells from remnant ovarian tissue. If a woman’s own biological eggs can be stimulated or retrieved through cutting-edge medical care, the resulting IVF procedure remains entirely lawful.