Is genetically modified food good for people?

Great caution is called for here. Mankind has thousands of years of experience with traditional food but hardly any with genetically modified food, and its long-term effects are not yet known.

Islam attaches great importance to food being not only lawful but also good. The first verse above names both together. Good food strengthens the body and does not harm it.

With traditional food, we know from the experience of many generations what does us good and what harms us. Mankind has gathered this knowledge over thousands of years. Genetic engineering, by contrast, is very young. It is like a newborn baby. No one yet knows how it will turn out.

The history of science urges caution. Some artificially produced medicines were first celebrated as great progress. Some years later the same experts recognised their harm, and the medicines were withdrawn. Genetic engineering is similar. It intervenes deeply in the structure of a substance and creates something of which man has no experience yet.

This does not mean that all research is bad. But whoever chooses such food should do so with great restraint. The second verse above warns against following things of which one has no sure knowledge. That applies all the more to what we eat every day.