Lecture 4: Decision Making in Islam Professional Responsibility

1. Lecture 4: Decision Making in IslamProfessional Responsibility

2. Decision making in Islam • Ijmah • Ijmah is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Muslim community • two kinds of consensus are: • ijma al-ummah - a whole community consensus. • ijma al-aimmah - a consensus by religious authorities. • E.g. consensus on Islamic banking,

3. Decision making in Islam (contd.) • Qiyas • Qiyāsis the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the Hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Qur'an, in order to apply • known injunction (command) to a new circumstance and create a new injunction. • Here the ruling of the Sunnah and the Qur'an may be used as a means • to solve or provide a response to a new problem that may arise. • E.g. Is chatting allowed in Islam? • Discussion: Inductive vs. deductive reasoning

4. Decision making in Islam (contd.) • Ijtihad • Ijtihadis the making of a decision in Islamic law (sharia) by personal effort, independently of any school (madhhab) of jurisprudence (fiqh) • Mujtahid is an Islamic scholar who is competent to interpret sharia by ijtihad • Following conditions are defined for ijtehad • Knowledge of the Quran • Knowledge of the ahadith of the Blessed Prophet • Knowledge of the sayings of the Salaf-us-Salaheen; that is to know which rulings they disagreed and upon which they were unanimous. • Knowledge of Arabic linguistics • Knowledge of Qiyas, the knowledge by which one learns the method of deriving a ruling from the Quran and Sunnah.

5. Decision making in Islam (contd.) • The following points are presented in order to clarify the purpose of ijtihad: • God is all-powerful, all-knowing. • God created laws for humankind and only God has the authority to do so. • God appointed messengers to convey the laws to humankind. • God appointed imams to guide humankind about the laws. • At present, neither the Prophet (S.W), nor the imamsare accessible. • Therefore, qualified jurists have the duty to find God's law, not create God's laws. • Therefore, ijtihad is the process of finding God's law from the Qur'anand the hadith using specific methods. • E.g. defining policies/rules for an interest free Islamic Banking system in the light of Quran o Sunnah

6. E.g. defining policies/rules for an interest free Islamic Banking system in the light of Quran o Sunnah

7. General guidelines for ethical decision making • Professional standard analysis – IEEE/ACM • Roles & responsibilities analysis • Stakeholder analysis • Systemic policy analysis – local/international laws • Ethical theory analysis – better ethical understanding of situation

8. Professional Responsibility • Computer professional (C.P) • People who design, build, program & service computerized devices, as well as who plan & manage such activities • Enormous power to affect world in good, bad way, • E.g. programs to control airplanes, nuclear power plant, medical devices,

9. Professional Responsibility • Computer Practitioners – people who design, build, program computerized devices, as well as who plan & manage such activities • Affect the world in good or bad way • E.g. computer programs to control airplanes, nuclear power plants, medical devices, space stations • Since lives of many people depends on such programs C.P should make ethically & professionally sound judgments & decisions.

10. What does it mean to be a professional? • Mastering an extensive body of knowledge & skills • Providing an important service • Exercising monopolistic control over relevant services to society -- license or certificate to practice • Accepting a code of professional conduct

11. Professional Context • The complex context in which a computer professional normally functions include a variety of roles • Roles carry related ethical responsibilities & obligations • Employer to employee • Professional to professional • Professional to client • Professional to user • Professional to society

12. Employer to Employee • Relationship between an employer & employee is contractual one • Employee agrees to carry out assigned jobs • Employer agrees to pay compensation • Employer responsibility to provide safe env. Tools & also avoid asking employee to do anything illegal • Employee’s responsibility is to be loyal, honest his/her qualificationor experience, do not reveal trade secrets

13. Professional to Professional • Team members • Share work & cooperate • Provide helpful advice & assistance

14. Professional to client • Computer professionals have clients • people or organizations with whom they have contracted to provide a computer related product or service • Nature of responsibility depends on how professional to client relationship is defined

15. Professional to client (contd.) • Agency; • Clients make all significant decisions & the C.P merely carries out those decisions • Shortcoming: special knowledge of professional is not effectively used • Paternalistic • Professional makes all the decision and client is treated like a child • Fiduciary • Responsibility is shared for making important decisions • Trust is essential

16. Professional to user • C.P often creates h.w or s.w intended for use by a range of people • E.g. airplane manufacturer may hire a s.w firm for developing a s.w package, the s.w will affect a diverse user community, crew, passengers etc. • C.P must accept job only if s/he is competent enough.

17. Professional to Society • Work of C.P can easily impact millions of people • Safety of people depends on reliable function of s.w package • Computer technology has rapidly incorporated into every field from medial, to banks to education to communication, defense, industry • Contract: society grants rights to practice profession, C.P agrees to practice in a manner to benefit society • Environmentalist view