Selling animal semen and hiring a stud

A question on selling animal semen and how it differs from the prohibition on stud fees, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that selling semen extracted from a pure animal is permitted, and that the prohibition concerns hiring a stud to produce a pregnancy, because of the uncertainty involved. ¹

The questioner asked whether selling animal semen is allowed, and how it differs from the prohibition on paying for a stud's covering. ¹

The Department answered that there is no objection to selling animal semen or charging for inseminating with it if it comes from a pure animal other than a dog or a pig, since if selling the whole is allowed, selling a part is too. ¹ It said the reason for the prohibition on stud fees is that hiring a stud to produce a pregnancy is uncertain, since pregnancy is not guaranteed and the benefit is neither known nor deliverable, as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani stated in Fath al-Bari; none of these problems arise in selling extracted semen itself. ¹ It quoted Ibn Hajar al-Haytami's al-Zawajir and al-Shabramallisi's gloss on Nihayat al-Muhtaj that someone who hires a stud for a set time to use as he wishes may use it for covering as a by-product rather than as the purpose. ¹ It concluded that hiring a stud for a set sum and a set time for general use is a valid hire, and the hirer may use it for covering as a by-product. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3854, dated 18 January 2024. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.