Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa against artificial insemination, evoking mixed reaction from prominent Muslim groups who said that the matter is debatable and there is a need to draft special guidelines.

The fatwa issued early this month stated: "It is not right to masturbate in order to get children by artificial insemination. Muslim couples should avoid it".

There is nothing wrong in adopting fair means for having children while it is disallowed to adopt unlawful means, it said.

Moulana Jalaluddin Umri, Convener, Shariyat Committee, All India Muslim Personal Law Board said that the fatwa was "correct" according to the Shariyat.

"However, with changing time, there should be some relaxations especially in such cases," he said.

"Muslim clerics and scholars need to sit together and frame guidelines in sensitive matters like this one," Umri said adding that the AIMPLB would take up the matter in its Board meeting.

Stating the process to be a haram (sin), the fatwa said: "The child born out of husband's semen will be regarded Sabit-un-nasab (one's own descendant), when the husband himself inserts the semen into the uterus of his wife. Otherwise it is a haram to get it done by any doctor".

Another Muslim organisation, Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind, said there is no need for the seminary to issue strict guidelines on the issue and it should be legalised if couples are not left with any other choice.

"Nothing is written about artificial insemination or any other artificial means of conception in Quran. Hence, the matter is debatable. Muslim bodies should sit together and must come out with a common framework on the matter," Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind spokesperson Abdul Hameed Nomani said.