THE CONSTRUCTION OF HADITH ADDRESSING GENETIC

This paper explores positions of hadith and ethics in discussing the genetic engineering of humans by departing from the following questions: a) how do hadith contribute to constructing various aspects of human genetics? b) how did the social context around Prophet Muhammad affect the construction of the hadith? c) how do hadith addressing human genetics relate to scientific development? This paper reveals that the ethics and process of genetic engineering are prescribed in the hadith, illuminating the contextual debates of its time. Issues of genetics that arise in the discourse of human existence, particularly regarding sex and skin color, show a contestation of values related to the position of genetic factors as undeniable. Scientific development provides answers to the increasingly complex and contestatory discourse on genetics and necessitates a paradigm shift in the Muslim community, which often places hadith as a believed and practiced textual truth.


A. INTRODUCTION
The relationship between hadith and science has been unequal. Hadith is often perceived as indisputable regardless of opposing arguments made through scientific findings.
Likewise, in studying genetics, hadith is often regarded as the absolute truth by Muslims. As a result, findings in genetic engineering research often appear contradictory to textual narratives in the Qur'an and hadith. Meanwhile, research on human genetics also has its long-standing history, dating back to the study of quantitative traits in the 19th Century and Mendelian traits in the first decades of the 20th Century.
Hadith addressing human genetics are largely discussed within two aspects: at the level of Islamic law, and within the relationship between science and Islam. Hence, studies specifically exploring the construction of a hadith's emergence and its relationship with genetics development are widely unexplored in the field. This paper complements the shortcomings of existing studies that view hadith onedimensionally and fail to examine the discursive aspects of hadith in constructing human This paper deduces that the ethics and process of genetic engineering are prescribed in the hadith, illuminating the contextual debates of its time. Issues of genetics that arise in the discourse of human existence, particularly regarding sex and skin color, show a contestation of values related to the position of genetic factors as undeniable. At the same time, genetic discourse holds absolute power over humans in matters like biological sex and skin color.
Thus, the development of science provides answers to the increasingly complex and contestatory discourse on genetics, especially in the domain of ethics.

Human Genetics
Genetics is the science dealing with information stored in cells, its transmission from generations, and variations between individuals within a population 1 . The human genome is a set of instructions in the body. Two copies of the genome are tightly woven within each cell, acting as the microscopic building blocks of the human body 2 . The genome contains three information-carrying molecules: DNA, RNA, and protein. Genes are information in the sequence of the DNA building blocks that are transcribed (copied) into RNA molecules, then translated into (used to build) proteins. Proteins are responsible for or contribute to traits or diseases associated with genes 3 . About 20,000 genes in the human genome encode various proteins that perform different activities: blood clotting, muscle contraction, food digestion, nutrient absorption, and communication between cells. Lewis (2017)

Religion and Science
The relationship between science and religion has historically been one of the most central interdisciplinary problems globally. 8 Conflicts between science and religion have received considerable attention in various public discourses. 9 These discussions often gravitate to philosophical, abstract, or polemical issues rather than empirical questions.
According to Byers (2000), the "war" between religion and science creates new opportunities for fruitful dialogues. Meanwhile, Barbour 10 divides this relationship into four categories: (a) contradiction and conflict; (b) independence; (c) interaction or dialogue; and (d) unity and integration. In the first relationship, religion and science seek knowledge through their respective foundations, logic and sensory data; therefore, its nature remains contradictory.
The second relationship, independence, is based on the premise that the two must be completely independent and autonomous to avoid conflict between science and religion.
Meanwhile, interaction or dialogue interrogates the indirect interaction between science and religion, which involves questioning the boundaries and methods of the two fields. Finally, a group of academics is thinking through the framework of unity and integration, arguing that a form of integration is possible between theology and science. 11 In Islamic literature, various scholars are known to have evaluated the relationship between science and the Qur'an, such as al-Jahiz, al-Ghazali, al-Meresi, Zarkeshi, Soyouti, Feyz Kashani, and others. Al-Ghazali, for example, argued that the Qur'an is a source of both inner knowledge (ma'rifa) and general knowledge. Agreeing with al-Ghazali, but with a touch of an extremist point of view, al-Meresi added that "all knowledge from the first to the last is contained in the Qur'an" 12 . According to Urbi et al. 13 , Islam as a religion is a Complete Code of Life. The teachings of the Qur'an and hadith are closely related to science; therefore, the contestation between religion and science should be bridged. 14 , 15 , 16 The Qur'an and hadith are appraised as references for numerous scientific problems, such as the use of plants to treat various diseases, 17 , 18 the secrets of the universe, 19 medicine, and human biology. 20 Hermeneutics comes from the Greek verb hermeneuien, "to interpret," or the noun hermenia, which means "interpretation." Thus, interpretation can be conveyed in words, statements, or affirmations (Fateh, 2010). Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation theories.
In the context of religion, it refers to the study of sacred texts and their interpretation, particularly related to theology and law 21 . The outcome of this process-the determinacy of meaning-is governed by the following factors: (1) the nature of the reader; (2) (intention) of hermeneutics focuses not only on the statement but also on its subject. Vedder 23 believed that it creates problems in interpreting religious texts because the connection between meaning and reference appears to have been removed-contrary to the interpretation of scientific or historical texts. However, the poetic or religious texts claim that it also has references, i.e., that it can be true. This can be understood as 'hermeneutic truth. 24 The intended meaning of words in the Qur'an is undoubtedly essential for its comprehension. Therefore, before trying to understand the Quranic worldview, its theology, and its ethical values, there is a demand to engage with the words contained within (Burge, 2015). Furthermore, there is the concept of the hermeneutic circle. In the context of Islamic studies, for example, the concept implies that the meanings that interpreters give to the words of the Qur'an are influenced by, and they themselves influence, their interpretation of the

Construction of hadith addressing various aspects of human genetics
Studies on hadith addressing genetics from various hadith literature cover many topics.
Specifically, this paper limits only three hadith as a reference.

The differences in skin color between parents and children
The first is the hadith that alludes to differences in skin color. The following hadith suggests that skin color is influenced by heredity (Hadith 1).

Narrated by Abu Hurairah (RA): A man said, "O Allah's Messenger, my wife has
given birth to a black son." He asked, "Have you any camels?" He replied, "Yes." He asked, "What is their color?" He replied, "They are red." He asked, "Is there a dusky (dark) one among them?" He replied, "Yes." He asked, "How has that come about?" He replied, "It is perhaps a strain to which it has reverted (i.e., heredity)." He said, "It is perhaps a strain to which this son of yours has reverted." (al-Bukhari 1422: 53).

Children's resemblance to their parents
The second is the hadith addressing the determinants to a child's resemblance. The resemblance of children to their father or mother is determined by the quality of the sperm or ovum. The following hadith answers many questions about the possible sex of a child, as narrated by Imam al-Bukhari (Hadith 2).

Narrated by Anas (RA): When `Abdullah bin Salam heard the arrival of the Prophet at
Medina, he came to him and said, As for the resemblance of the child to its parents: If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble the father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her." (al-Bukhari 1422: 132)

Engineering of children's biological sex
Rasulullah PBUH said (in a longer hadith), "The reproductive substance of man is white and that of woman is yellow. When they have sexual intercourse and the male's substance prevails upon the female's substance, it is a male child that is created by Allah's decree. When the substance of the female prevails upon the substance contributed by the male, a female child is formed by the decree of Allah." (Muslim,Hadith No. 473).
The three hadith addressing genetic aspects of skin color and biological sex contain a 'history of birth' that explains the rationality behind its emergence. They illustrate that the discourse surrounding genetics (genes) was present in Prophet Muhammad's era. One significant example is the hadith transmitted by al-Bukhari about a man who came to the Prophet about his son who was born black, unlike himself. The man refused to recognize the child due to the differences in physical characteristics. In the dialogue between the Prophet and the man, the Prophet explained that the genes of his ancestors influence the black skin color. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1379)

Commentary and linguistic aspects of hadith addressing genetics
In the three hadith discussed, three keywords require further examination. (a) The word al-'Irq in the hadith etymologically means the origin of something (Ibn Faris, tt, 283).
Imam al-Nawawi in Al Minhaj bi Sharh Sahih Muslim explained, "the hadith clarifies that the child is still attributed to the husband even though the skin color is different-even if the father is white and the child is black or vice versa. It is not permissible for the father to reject the child based merely on the difference in skin color. Even though the husband and wife are white, and the child is born black, or the other way around, it is possible that the child inherits genes from the parents' ancestors" (An-Nawawi, 1392:133). (b) Ibn Faris (415)  Based on historical literature, the pre-Islamic Arabians practiced the tradition of improving offspring quality by asking wives to consummate with men who were more respected and superior to the husband (al-Mawardi, 1994). For generations, they had understood that a child's genetics could be engineered better through sexual intercourse. The Qur'an also prohibits marriage with close relatives such as uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers (Surah An-Nisa: 23)-known as mahram-because it will damage the lineage held in high esteem in the Arab tradition of the time, even today. It exhibits knowledge of the decline in gene quality that occurs when parents come from closely related lineage. In addition, in the Jahiliya tradition, patriarchal construction authorizes sons to inherit their mothers like an object following the passing of their fathers, which includes the right to engage in intercourse with them (incest). It can result in adverse genetic changes in the next generation due to accumulations of problematic genes, resulting in the feeble brain, genetic disorders, and developmental and intellectual delays (Fuad, 2010:14). This tradition was later banned in Islam.

The relationship of human genetics hadith with the development of science
The mentioned knowledge of genetic engineering found in the early Islamic period became partial guides for further research. The classical genetic sciences developed by Hippocrates and Aristotle, in turn, were explored by Islamic scientists. One renowned scholar is al-Jahiz, a scientist who lived in the 9th century AD during the Abbasid Caliphate in al-Hayawan, who contributed to modern genetics with Tathawwur theory. The theory argued that to survive, animals adapt by changing their bodies (which begins with changes at the gene level) over a long period of time due to environmental stress factors (Zirkle, 1941: 85).
Charles Darwin later developed this theory into the theory of evolution. According to Darwin, natural selections have forced animals to make continuous genetic changes (gene mutations), 30 Fitria and Al Giffari, "The Language of Science and Religion: An Approach to Understand the Encounter between Science and Religion According to Ian G. Barbour." 31 Dragos Constatin Sanda, Luana Alexandra Smarandoiu, and Costea Munteanu, "The Dialogue between Science and Religion: A Taxonomic Contribution," Religions 8, no. 3 (2017), https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8030035. from generation to generation, for thousands of years to preserve their species. Thus, species that fail to adapt will eventually become extinct due to natural selection pressures-a concept known as evolution.
In its subsequent development, the theory of evolution, which was based on gradual changes spanning thousands of years, gave rise to a racist political ideology that believes in the superiority of a particular race: Eugenics. Eugenics is an effort to improve humanity by multiplying healthy offspring and "throwing out" the weak and disabled (Osborn, 1937). For example, Hitler built a racial ideology around the belief that the Aryans are pure and superior, thus committing a massacre of the Jews because they are considered inferior. Some countries even implement policies that enforce sterilization, abortion, prohibition of marriage, and genocide against certain races 32 .
The science behind genetic engineering continues to evolve from what has initially been an evolutionary process (requiring a long time) to a revolutionary one (happening at a quick rate). Due to the latest developments in genetic engineering, gene editing in humans is made possible by removing disease-carrying genes or DNA and creating immunity to certain diseases from the embryonic stage. The method used is CRISPr-cas9 technology 33 .
CRISPr-cas9 is a combination of two specific terms in molecular biology. The first word, Crispr, stands for Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, a point in the DNA sequence targeted for editing. Meanwhile, Cas9 is a type of enzyme protein that cuts and connects the DNA sequence (http://www.zeclinics.com/crispr-cas9/). The geneediting process with CRISPr-cas9 can be seen in Figure 1.    6 1923/Frederick Griffith Bacteria transform through DNA mutation, which has a massive effect on its body 10 1910/ Davenport; and 1933/ Nazi Germany Davenport established the Eugenics Record Office (ERO) in New York, calling for marriage control and the sterilization of the lower classes to break the chain of "bad" genes. ERO also promoted sterilization laws in the US targeting socially unfit individuals. As a result, sterilization laws were enforced in 30 US states, and 60,000 people were forcibly sterilized. In 1933, the Government of Nazi Germany issued a law aimed to prevent hereditary diseases, in which 400,000 citizens were forced to sterilize because they were accused of inheriting mental illness, epilepsy, or physical disability. 9 1950/Erwin Chargaff Chargaff's Rules: DNA is composed of specific codes consisting of Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine (AGTC). child's resemblance to his parents, and he was silent regarding approval-neither forbidding nor ordering. Sunnah Taqririyyah was formulated by hadith scholars when the Prophet noticed a particular matter and was silent about it. Philosophically, it is regarded as impossible that the Prophet excuses wrongdoings considering that he was sent to guide humans on the path of righteousness. So, what the Prophet is silent on is not fundamentally wrong-even in nature correct. It also applies to the genetic engineering implied in the above hadith, which was not considered wrong at that time.

Differences in gender and skin color genes
As discussed in the literature review and results, genetics is a long-standing field decorated with extensive discussions, spanning until today. It is also established that the skin color and sex differences in hadith illustrate the reasoning and knowledge prevailing at that time. The Arabian structure of thought inspired the Prophet to reveal this information so that-in theological language-Jibril came to whisper to Muhammad at that historical juncture. As has also been exhibited in the results, Arab society shows familiarity with the engineering of superior genes, one of which by ordering the wife to consummate with other men who have excellent physical conditions to produce superior offspring. This was then prohibited during the Islamic period because it damages the lineage held and glorified by Arab society. In addition, the desire of married couples in Arabia to have a son is significant (Munfarida, 2015), given the exceedingly dominant patriarchal mindset, where men work while women only engage in the domestic sphere. Thus, traditionally, the Arabs were most interested in the ways to produce sons, considering that it was regarded as more beneficial.
On the other hand, the information provided by the Prophet through the hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah shows that differences in skin color are influenced by the ancestors' genes present in the child. Even though the father and mother are physically white, the parents may still carry black skin genes. As the black skin gene is "inactive" (in the biological term, recessive), and the white skin gene is more active (dominant), the black skin color does not appear in both parents. However, when the father's sperm and mother's egg meet, this black gene is transmitted. Therefore, in the following generations, brown-skinned children may appear as a combination of black and white skin genes-even black children may be born.
Likewise, the sex of a child is also influenced by the genes of both parents. As known, in a man's body, there are XY chromosomes, while in a woman's body exist XX chromosomes. When the Y chromosome in the father's body "loses," the offspring with the

How the Qur'an and hadith explain the differences
The Qur'an and hadith reveal that in every human being, there are genetic differences.
For example, variations in skin color, blood type, and facial resemblance are based on heredity. The hadith explaining genetic differences have also been scientifically studied and corroborated by scientists who found that the genes stored in sperm and ovum are different for every human.
Up to this point, it is evident that in the social space when the Prophet lived, the concept of genetic engineering was present, although it was very limited due to the development of science at that time. On the other hand, the Qur'an often discusses the creation of humans (QS. Al-Hajj: 5), which is then detailed in the hadith, including skin color, biological sex, and ways to produce offspring with preferred biological sex. In another hadith, it is also warranted that men should choose women who can bear many children and have a motherly nature. However, little can be said about how the hadith explain the process behind differences in skin color and how to get the desired biological sex due to the limited knowledge and the absence of data about the people of the Prophet's era, particularly concerning this topic.
Some Islamic scholars, such as Ibn Khaldun, argued that the Prophet's knowledge regarding medicine is not part of divine revelation but a mastered knowledge from the social environment at that time, which was passed down for several generations. Furthermore, Ibn Khaldun believed that Muhammad was not sent to become a doctor but rather a carrier of prophetic messages 34 . Thus, the information pronounced by the Prophet may initially be absorbed from his surrounding environment. Genetic engineering with the CRISPR-Cas9 technology can be carried out when the engineered gene is still incomplete as an independent organism or is still in an embryonic development stage. Additionally, alterations can also be done when the engineered organism is already in its final form as a new organism or already born 35 .

How religion explains the debate around genetic engineering
The three hadith above at least provide the initial form of knowledge about genetic engineering at that time. Engineering to produce good offspring is done by way of marriage between men and women. Moreover, the hadith prescribing to marry a woman who is fertile (al-walud) and good at raising children (al-wadud) implies that engineering of "descendants" before the formation phase of a living organism is permissible, even while it is far from the embryonic form, as long as no harm is left 36 .
Furthermore, the emergence of QS. An-Nisa, verse 23, gives rise to the concept of mahram. It contains the prohibition of marriages between people who are genetically close.
The verse suggests that Islam does not encourage genetic modifications that lead to weak offspring due to the meeting of recessive "problematic" genes in both parents. Although men and women who are genetically close appear to have a superior appearance from the outside 37 (e.g., both are intelligent, beautiful, and appear perfect physically), they may carry recessive defective genes in their bodies (e.g., mental retardation, blood cell disorders) that are not visible, which are inherited from their ancestors. When the marriage between the two occurs, the recessive gene will appear in the next generation. To reduce this possibility, Allah forbids this practice in the QS. An-Nisa: 23. And let those fear as if they had left weak offspring behind and feared for them (that they would be exposed to injustice). So let them fear Allah and speak words of justice (righteousness). (QS al-Nisa': 9)

C. CONCLUSION
This paper confirms the existence of prophetic hadith discussing genetic engineering, such as the hadith covering differences of a child's skin color influenced by hereditary genes of the ancestors. In biological studies, children born with different skin colors from their parents indicate genes hidden in both parents and inherited from long inactive (recessive) ancestral genes. Thus, in the generations that follow, these inactive genes may turn active and dominant. The same principle applies to sex determination. XY chromosomes are present in males, and XX chromosomes exist in females. If the Y chromosome in the male body loses, then the female sex (XX) will appear in a child. The emergence of hadith on this topic corroborates a particular discourse in Prophet Muhammad's social space. Based on the exploration in the results section, the religious response to genetic engineering exhibits an acceptability that is critical in preventing the birth of a disease-ridden generation, which is also in line with the message contained in Surah al-Nisa: 23.
These hadith also perform as a gateway for contemporary studies today, such as the CRISPR-Cas9 method. Research in genetic engineering has reached a point that positions humans as active agents in determining a generation's quality by eliminating disease-carrying cells and even engineering biological sex. The emergence of this technology is a breakthrough in genetics that also poses a new challenge. It creates the potential in humans to create a strong generation that is immune to diseases, as in the case of twin babies Lulu and Lana, but at the same time, the human can now play God by deciding the birth of new generations.
This paper is limited to the study of hadith addressing genetics, so there is still room for further research. Furthermore, the study of bioethics has not been widely investigated and is in critical need of examination, especially in the contemporary discourse of gene editing.
Islamic bioethics appropriately responds to this development and places the advancement of genetic engineering as scientific progress in line with the principle of hifdz al-nafs (Protection of Life) emphasized in uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, Joseph O. "Public Perceptions of Incompatibility between 'Science and Religion.'" Public Understanding of Science 21,no. 3