Islamic medical ethics and the straight path of God

Abstract

Increasingly, Islamic medicine and medical ethics are a focus of international debate. As a prescriptive discipline, based on Shari{&art1;}a, Islamic medical ethics is challenged on two fronts. First, the science on which legal judgements are made can change. Second, the schools of jurisprudence may issue different, contradictory judgements. Western non-Muslim health professionals need to understand Shari{&art1;}a-regulated medical ethics because Muslims living in Western Europe are a significant and growing presence. Influenced by aspiration and expectation, however, there is no one Islamic sense of personal identity. In consequence, the straight path, or law of God, is far from straightforward. The application of Shari{&art1;}a to medicine can cause tension between traditionalists and modernists, pragmatism and theology. Three medical issues are explored: abortion, embryology research and organ transplantation. Although remaining faithful to what has guided ethical decision-making in the past, Islam needs to be ready to engage with new ethical questions of the future.