Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Уральский государственный медицинский университет» Министерства здравоохранения Российской Федерации (ФГБОУ ВО УГМУ Минздрава России)

bioethics in islam

ИСПОЛНИТЕЛЬ: СТУДЕНТ АЛИ АТИФ, ОЛД-514

Екатеринбург, 2019

What is bioethics?

Bioethics, while a modern term, is as old as medicine itself. The Code of Hammurabi and the Hippocratic Oath, for instance, include provisions concerning the importance of ethical considerations to clinical practice. In addition to its initial focus on ethical issues relevant to clinical care, bioethics concerns the moral, legal, political, and social issues raised by medicine, biomedical research, and life sciences technologies.

Purpose and scope

Purpose

The field of bioethics has addressed a broad swathe of human inquiry; ranging from debates over the boundaries of life (e.g. abortion, euthanasia), surrogacy, the allocation of scarce health care resources (e.g. organ donation), to the right to refuse medical care for religious or cultural reasons. Bioethicists often disagree among themselves over the precise limits of their discipline, debating whether the field should concern itself with the ethical evaluation of all questions involving biology and medicine, or only a subset of these questions. [6] Some bioethicists would narrow ethical evaluation only to the morality of medical treatments or technological innovations, and the timing of medical treatment of humans. Others would broaden the scope of ethical evaluation to include the morality of all actions that might help or harm organisms capable of feeling fear.

scope

The scope of bioethics can expand with biotechnology,

including cloning, gene therapy, life extension, human genetic engineering, astroethics and life in space, and manipulation of basic biology through altered DNA, RNA and proteins. These developments will affect future evolution, and may require new principles that address life at its core, such as biotic ethics that values life itself at its basic biological processes and structures, and seeks their propagation.

Islamic bioethics

Bioethics in the realm of Islam differs from Western bioethics, but they share some similar perspectives viewpoints as well. Western bioethics is focused around rights, especially individual rights. Islamic bioethics focuses more on religious duties and obligations, such as seeking treatment and preserving life. Islamic bioethics is heavily influenced and connected to the teachings of the Qur'an as well as the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. These influences essentially make it an extension of Shariah or Islamic Law. In Islamic Bioethics, passages from the Qur'an are often used to validate various medical practices. For example, a passage from the Qur'an states "whosoever killeth a human being … it shall be as if he had killed all humankind, and whosoever saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he saved the life of all humankind." This excerpt can be used to encourage using medicine and medical practices to save lives, but can also be looked at as a protest against euthanasia and assisted suicide. A high value and worth is placed on human life in Islam, and in turn human life is deeply valued in the practice of Islamic bioethics as well. Muslims believe all human life, even one of poor quality, needs to be given appreciation and must be cared for and conserved.

Islam and the Human Being

The human is innocent.

He or she is not condemned by an original sin. Qur'an 97.8: “Consider the human self, and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be, and how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God!”

A human is neither “pure good” nor “pure bad.”

On the contrary, he or she may incline to be both. Employing his/her reason and will, he/she can choose the way to one of them. Qur'an 85.4-6: “Verily, We create man in the best conformation, and thereafter We reduce him to the lowest of low- excepting only such as attain to faith and do good Works: and theirs shall be a reward unending!” Human life is very valuable; killing a soul is like killing all humanity, and saving a soul is like saving all humanity. All human lives are equal. That is why Islam uses a single criterion for the repair of physical damage sustained by a human being regardless of social status, wealth or degree, and knowledge. The human is honoured in himself/herself, his/her thinking power, dignity, and physical wholeness. The Qur'an says:8 “We have honored Adam’s offspring.” Furthermore, the human was given God’s soul, that is, the vital part of human beings is divine. The Qur’an says: “And then He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His spirit.”

As a human is either authoritative or responsible, he/she is independent.

In Islam, human beings are the crown of creation and are God’s vice- regents on earth. They are endowed with reason, choice and responsibility, including stewardship of other creatures, the environment, and their own health. Muslims are expected to be moderate and balanced in all matters, including health. Illness may be seen as a trial or even as a cleansing ordeal, but it is not viewed as a curse of punishment or an expression of Allah’s wrath. Hence, the patient is obliged to seek treatment and to eschew fatalism.

Life, Illness and the Patient

There is no good or bad life. Every kind of life is valuable in Islamic ethics. Islamic bioethics emphasises the importance of preventing illness, but when prevention fails it provides guidance—not only to the practising physician but also to the patient. The physician understands the duty to strive to heal, acknowledging God as the ultimate healer. Islamic bioethics teaches that the patient must be treated with respect and compassion, and that the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of suffering an illness should be taken into account.

Reproduction and Abortion in Islamic Bioethics

Like with most other situations, Islamic bioethicists look to the Qur'an and religious leaders regarding their outlook on reproduction and abortion. It is firmly believed that reproduction of a human child can only be proper and legitimate via marriage. This does not mean that a child can only be reproduced via sexual intercourse between a married couple, but that the only proper and legitimate way to have a child is when it is an act between husband and wife. It is okay for a married couple to have a child artificially and from techniques using modern biotechnology as opposed to sexual intercourse, but to do this out of the context of marriage would be deemed immoral.

Islamic bioethics is strongly against abortion and strictly prohibits it. The IOMS states that "from the moment a zygote settles inside a woman's body, it deserves a unanimously recognized degree of respect." Abortion may only be only permitted in unique situations where it is considered to be the "lesser evil.