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Islmic Statements Agains Useing Jewish Invented Medicenes

Medical ethics and Islam: principles and practice

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A minimum level of cultural awareness is a necessary prerequisite for the delivery of care that is culturally sensitive. In this paper nosotros simplify and highlight certain key teachings in Islamic medical ethics and explore their applications. We hope that the insights gained will help clinicians to better sympathise their Muslim patients and deliver intendance that pays due respect to their beliefs.

  • medical ethics
  • Islam

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  • medical ethics
  • Islam

Fundamental to discussions concerning ethics, and medical ethics in particular, must prevarication an appreciation of the beliefs, perspectives, and conceptual frameworks used past our patients (boxes 1 and 2).i ,two This job has been made more circuitous in recent times following the large calibration migration of peoples subscribing to moral and ethical paradigms other than those of Judeo-Christianity that have historically shaped British civilization.3 The National Health Service (NHS), as is the case with the other major British institutions, was originally created to serve a relatively homogeneous population. For many of those who trace their origins from other than a white European lineage information technology is clear, and sorry at times, that the NHS has institute information technology difficult to adapt to the needs of minority groups.4

Box 1: Defining medical ethics2

Analytical activity in which concepts, assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, emotions, reasons, and arguments underlining medico-moral determination making are examined critically

Box 2: Typology of medical ethics2

  • Informed consent and refusal of treatment

  • Clinical relationships, truthfulness, trust, and good communication

  • Confidentiality and good clinical practice

  • Medical enquiry

  • Human reproduction

  • New genetics

  • Treating children

  • Health care of those with physical and mental disabilities

  • Vulnerability created by duty of doctors, e.g. education of doctors

  • Resource allocation and rights

The 1991 Census revealed that about half dozen per cent of the UK population classified themselves as belonging to a minority ethnic grouping.5 With no formal place for transcultural studies in either the undergraduate or postgraduate preparation of British doctors, it is little wonder that clinicians face problems in tailoring care to the needs of minority ethnic communities. The response from some quarters has been to call for a Universal Ethical Code that embraces and includes the domains of medicine and bioethics.6 An culling approach, and one that we favour, in view of the well described tendency of the ascendant cultures to impact on minority perspectives through acculturation, is for ethical pluralism to be allowed to flourish.vii ,8 In this paper we share our knowledge, gained from readings, attending seminars and conferences, and higher up all, experiences "from the bedside" of certain principles and practices that may assistance clinicians in providing care within an advisable upstanding context for Muslims—Britain and Western Europe's largest religious minority.

Islam and Muslims

Tracing its origins to the same Semitic soil that bore Judaism and Christianity, Islam continues to deeply influence the beliefs, values, and customs of an estimated ane fifth of the human being race. Yet, despite this commonality of descent, and the presence of Muslim communities in Britain for well over four centuries, Islam is poorly understood by the host population.9 Its nearly profound tenet is a conventionalities in Monotheism, summarised in the Proclamation of Faith: "There is no deity salvage God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God". Whispered almost universally past Muslims into the ear of their newborn or a dying loved one, the daily life and body of Muslim communities, including the ane.5–2 million potent British Muslim community, pin around this very statement. Life'southward very purpose and so is to realise the Divine, a purpose that is doable only through a witting commitment to the teachings of Sacred Police force. Transmission and instruction in matters of Constabulary was the role par excellence of the Emissaries of God, of whom Muhammad was but the last link in a chain that included such luminaries as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus of Nazareth. Sacred Law for Muslims is an all embracing entity, dealing with all aspects of homo beingness.x

Islamic medical ethics

THREE SOURCES OF SACRED Law

The two primary sources of Law are:

  • The Qur'an (Koran)—the Holy Text believed by Muslims to be the straight word of God

  • The Sunnah—the example, whether in word or deed, of the Prophet Muhammad incorporated in Islamic scriptures.11

The third source is:

  • Ijtihad—the law of deductive logic.

Earlier discussing this tertiary source we need to appreciate the guiding principles and framework of Islamic philosophy which aid resolve some moral and upstanding dilemmas of today (box iii). Since Islam admits no clergy, the "learned" (Ulema), oft scholars from Islamic universities such equally Al-Azhar in Cairo, are charged with interpreting and contextualising religious teachings for the wider Muslim customs. Recent scientific and technological advances have resulted in a proliferation of a range of circuitous issues that have produced ethical dilemmas for healthcare professionals, patients, and society at large. Responding to this challenge, manyUlema accept concluded that, in situations requiring specialist knowledge (for example, decisions concerning medical practice), the somewhat novel concept of a "consensus edict" is preferable. For rulings pertaining to medicine these consensus groups will typically include a wide and diverse representation of Ulema and specialist clinicians from relevant disciplines, the latter responsible for providing the necessary background information. The decision making process is typically transparent with members of the wider community able to scrutinise the arguments employed and the textual material underpinning these edicts. Counter arguments may exist presented, and it is not unusual for ii or more seemingly contrasting opinions to coexist. In such cases individuals are, in principle, free to cull whichever judgement they find most agreeable, though in practice many will cull to remain loyal to their particular schoolhouse of idea.

Box three: The guiding principles of Islamic Law

  • Maintenance of life

  • Protection of an private's freedom of belief

  • Maintaining the intellect

  • Preservation of honor and integrity

  • Protection of belongings

The procedure of deductive logic described in a higher place is known asIjtihad and this forms the third source of Islamic Law. It is Ijtihad that provides Sacred Law with its dynamism, assuasive information technology to remain relevant when responding to novel challenges and concerns that regularly arise in the Muslim civilization which values learning and the scientific procedure.12 I example, and i that is in time probable to bring considerable health do good to communities worldwide, is the move towards outlawing cigarette smoking on the grounds that its adverse consequences to health are at present well established. The more than culturally enlightened of British health authorities have responded by putting the "quit smoking" message within an appropriate religious framework when targeting Muslim communities.

Religious texts commonly used in deliberations on medical ethics

Below are texts that are ordinarily used in judgements relating to health and healthcare provision, and examples of the ways in which such teachings may exist applied.

GENETIC MANIPULATION, ASSISTED Conception, AND ADOPTION

We (God) created Man in the most perfect grade.13

Oftentimes used to explain that each human life has its own inherent value and goodness. Humans however also take the capacity for autonomy and self decision and thus accept the choice of pursuing a course of action that remains truthful to their innate pure state or following an immoral path. Whilst genetic research and gene therapy may have positive uses in serving to restore health (and in the process integrity), intendance must be taken to ensure that other Islamic principles are not violated. An accurate and consummate cognition of 1's pedigree is a fundamental human right; only somatic cell lines should therefore be used in transplantation of genetic material since parental integrity is then not compromised and there is no question of hereditary characteristics existence influenced.

Know your genealogy and respect your claret ties.14

Children have the right to be built-in through a valid spousal relationship (marriage) and to know their parentage fully. Bogus insemination and in vitro fertilisation are therefore licit simply if sperm from the adult female's spouse is used.

Call the adoptive children by the name of their father.xv

Adoption is generally frowned on in Muslim culture since the process involves the transfer of parental rights to the adoptive parents. Fostering is even so positively encouraged since no similar transfer of parentage occurs. In either case, the surname of the real begetter should be retained.

PRENATAL SCREENING AND TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY

Each of you will have had his created existence brought together in his mother'southward womb, as a drop (nutfa) for forty days, and then a leech like clot (alaqa) for the same menses, then a piece of flesh (mughda) for the aforementioned period, subsequently which God sends the angel to blow the spirit (ruh) into him.16

On the basis of this text many Muslims conclude that foetal ensoulment occurs 120 days post-conception—an important consideration in discussions regarding termination of pregnancy.17 ,18First trimester chorionic villous biopsy (performed before ensoulment) and advances in therapeutic foetal medicine may in fourth dimension atomic number 82 to a greater willingness to engage in genetic counselling and prenatal screening.

An existing life, with its responsibilities and ties, takes preference over a developing one. If continuation of pregnancy places a mother's life in danger so all Muslim government concur that termination of pregnancy is justified. Termination for any other reason is strongly and consistently discouraged, particularly after ensoulment has occurred.

CHILD ABUSE, DISCIPLINING, AND AUTONOMY

Say: "My Lord, have mercy upon them (my parents), every bit they cared for me in childhood".nineteen

The parent–child human relationship is considered the near important of all human relationships, this forming a reference signal for all other human encounters. Both children and parents accept common rights and responsibilities. Dearest and respect are the guiding principles underpinning this most special of relationships. Whatever form of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of children is thus considered abhorrent within Islamic Law. Islamic teachings, however, do recognise that children may at times demand to be disciplined, both in their own interests and too in the interests of the wider lodge, and this may on occasions involve concrete punishment. In such instances, jurists have stipulated that the following conditions must be met: parents must never strike the face or head; minimal force should be used, and in detail, no bruising should result; disciplining should not be performed when parents feel they may lose command.20

The pen has been lifted from three: the sleeper until he awakens, the (male) child until his first wet dream, and the insane person until he tin reason.21

The 1989 Children's Human action states that age of consent is when a kid reaches their sixteenth altogether, or younger, if a doctor deems a kid capable of understanding and making decisions. In Islamic police, the historic period of majority (and hence full autonomy) is dependent on physiological maturation, this being divers for males by the outset nocturnal emission and for females by menarche.21

Cease OF LIFE Problems AND Brain Expiry

By him in whose hand is my soul, the miscarried foetus draws his mother into paradise by his umbilical string when she seeks reward for his loss from God.22Every child dies in the truthful faith.22

Children are born pure according to the teachings of Islam, and those who remain true to their innate nature and abide by the teachings of Sacred Police force, are considered whole or good for you. If expiry is decreed we remind relatives that as children are pure they are assured of elation in the eternal abode of the futurity, and furthermore volition be their forerunners in Paradise.

Whosoever takes a man life, for other than murder or corruption in the earth, it is as if he has taken the life of all of flesh.23

No one is authorised deliberately to cease life, whether one's ain or that of another homo being. Saving life is encouraged, and reducing suffering with analgesia is even so acceptable, even if, in the process, decease is hastened. This rule is based on the fundamental didactics that "actions are to be judged by their intentions". Withdrawal of nutrient and drink to hasten death is therefore not allowed.

In 1987, Rahman, the US based Muslim philosopher expressed the view that relentless artificial prolongation of life is not in keeping with Islamic ethos unless in that location is evidence that a reasonable quality of life would result.24 The bulk of Muslim authorities will consider "encephalon stem" death adequate grounds to discontinue life support therapy; iii independent physicians, of whom at least i must be a neurologist, should however brand the diagnosis. A minority stance is that the notion of brain stem death is inappropriate, for information technology is rooted in the Cartesian dualism that characterises biomedicine. It is argued that death criteria which remain truthful to the essence of the Semitic traditions, namely the point at which the soul departs, exist identified and used for end of life decisions.

Withdrawing treatment from any patient, such as a kid seriously afflicted by a hereditary neuromusclar illness, or curtailing treatment in a neonate with severe hypoxic encephalopathy, is never easy. This decision is on occasions, yet, somewhat easier for Muslim doctors, such equally ourselves, when dealing with Muslim families with whom we share a common heritage and earth view. In such circumstances, subsequently making clear that the child'due south interests are our foremost consideration, it is ofttimes possible to make apply of Islamic teachings in counselling parents regarding the hard decisions that lie ahead. We remind parents of God's Omnipotence and the transient nature of our earthly sojourn in contrast to the abiding reality of the time to come. The exact time of death is a matter of Divine decree over which nosotros as swain homo beings are ultimately bystanders. In these situations we evidence guarded confidence, yet discuss the real possibility of worse to come, sometimes suddenly and catastrophically. The ensuing "dynamic dialogue" in which we engage is thus rooted in the individual and collective narrative of the family unit for whom we provide intendance.

POSTMORTEM EXAMINATIONS AND ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION

Breaking the bone of the dead is akin to breaking the bone of the living.25

On the basis of this Qur'anic text some scholars take deduced that it may exist possible for the deceased to experience pain—one of the reasons for the general reluctance of Muslims to permit postmortem examinations. Others, all the same, opine that the text obliges the Muslim community to deal humanely with fellow human beings whether in life or in decease. In future magnetic resonance necropsy may offer an alternative to formal open up whole trunk postmortem examination.26 This innovation is condign increasingly widespread in many pathology departments in the United kingdom.27

Organ transplantation is now encouraged in many Arab Muslim countries, and considered past some as a "perpetual" charitable deed. This issue has not been besides debated amidst the South Asian Muslim community, at least in function because until very recently the bailiwick was only one of academic interest in these countries.28 ,29 Sale of bodily organs is categorically prohibited. Xenotransplantation options are probable to increase in the foreseeable futurity and Muslim opinion about the acceptability and, if so, the prerequisite weather (is transplant of organs from pigs acceptable when consumption of pork is forbidden?), remains divided.

NECESSITY ALLOWS THE PROHIBITED

Merely if ane is compelled by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing—there is on him no sin, for indeed God is Clement, Merciful.xxx

In the case of absolute necessity, where religiously lawful alternatives do non exist, Islamic instruction allows for Sacred Police to be suspended, temporarily if possible. The utilize of pork insulin and heart valves from pigs has been ruled acceptable by manyUlema on the basis of this principle.

Conclusions

A minimum level of cultural awareness is a necessary prerequisite for the delivery of care that is culturally sensitive.31-33 In one case equipped with such understanding it is possible to motion beyond the "recipe book" approach to dealing with minority traditions, offer the opportunity for experiential learning. In this paper we accept simplified and highlighted certain key teachings in Islamic medical ethics and explored their applications. Though introductory, we hope that the insights gained will assist clinicians to better empathise their Muslim patients and deliver intendance that pays due respect to their beliefs.

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