Year 12 Studies of Religion Religious Tradition Depth Study : ISLAM BIOETHICS

1. Year 12 Studies of Religion Religious Tradition Depth Study : ISLAM BIOETHICS

2. Ethics Students learn about: ONE of the following area of ethical teaching in Islam: Bioethics Environmental ethics Sexual ethics

3. Ethics Students learn to: Describe and explain Islamic ethical teachings on bioethics OR environmental ethics OR sexual ethics

4. How do we define Bioethics? • Concerns itself with the ethical questions that come about in the relationship between biology and medicine, the research and practice in these areas and the connections with politics and law. • Bioethics is a science that sets a system of medical and environmental priorities for acceptable survival. In practical terms, it is a branch of ethics concerned with issues surrounding health care and the biological sciences. Such issues include the morality of abortion, euthanasia, in-vitro fertilisation and organ transplantation.

5. Topics in bioethics include: Genetic engineering Cloning Euthanasia Transplantations Organ donations Life Support Stem cell research

6. Five Islamic concepts with regards to ethics… • Human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creation and are God’s vice-regents on earth. • Humans are given reason and choice and as a result have responsibilities. • Such responsibilities include: oversight or stewardship of other animals, the general environment and one’s own health or well being. Spotlight: Studies of Religion HSC page 131

7. Five Islamic concepts with regards to ethics continued… 4. Bioethics emphasises the connection between the body and the spirit. 5. The Qur’an and the teaching of the Prophet gave specific and detailed guidelines regarding various ethical questions. Spotlight: Studies of Religion HSC page 131

8. Bioethics in Islam… • Some questions- How do Muslims respond to these issues? How does the Qur’an guide the believer? How does the humanity as the pinnacle of God’s creation fit here? • Many ethical decisions deal with the point of death. • In Islamic law, death is considered to have occurred when the soul has left the body, but this moment can never be exactly known. Spotlight: Studies of Religion HSC page 130

9. Bioethical decisions… • Bioethical decision making is carried out within a framework of values derived from revelation and tradition. • Islamic bioethics emphasises the importance of preventing illness, but when prevention fails, it provides guidance not only for the physician but also to the patient. • Is Islam, life is sacred: every moment of life has great value, even if it is of poor quality. Living Religion Third Edition pages 386-387

10. Life is sacred… • The saving of life is a duty and the unwarranted taking of life is a grave sin. The Qur’an affirms the reverence for life: “…whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.” Surat al-Ma’ida 5.32 Living Religion Third Edition page 387

11. Islam as a way of life… • Islam has a strong focus on the individuals relationship with God. • Humans will be held accountable for all actions after death in the afterlife. • Life in this world is seen as a testing ground to the Hereafter (accountability) • Islam constitutes a dual obligation: duty towards the almighty; duty towards fellow humans.

12. Allah… • Is the source of all life. • His will decides when someone will be born and when the person will die. • People are God's agents on earth and do not decide these things. • The Qur’an teaches that a soul cannot die without God’s permission (Sura 3:145) “ And a soul will not die but with the permission of Allah the term is fixed; and whoever desires the reward of this world, I shall give him of it, and whoever desires the reward of the hereafter I shall give him of it, and I will reward the grateful.”

13. Primary sources of Islamic Law… • The Qur’an is the 1st primary source of Islamic Law • The Sunna is also a primary source of Islamic law– an interpretation of the Qur’an. The Sunna reinforces the Qur’an.

14. The Qur’an • Bioethics is integral to the ethical teachings from the Qur’an. • The Qur’an presents specific ethical guidelines on many issues, including those which come under the heading of bioethics. • Islamic bioethics emphasises the importance of saving life, preventing illness and supporting humanity, and even when specific questions go beyond the stated examples, guidance is presented in the Qur’an. Spotlight: Studies of Religion HSC page 130

15. Secondary sources of Islamic law.. Ijma’ • Consensus of the opinion of the Companions of the Prophet and the agreement of Jurists on specific matters. • An agreement about what the Prophet has said or done and made into a ruling.

16. Secondary sources of Islamic law.. Qiyas • Analogical deduction • Qiyas is the extention of a Shariah ruling from an original case to a new case because the new case has the same effective cause as the original case. • Rulings in new areas are kept close to the Qur’an and Sunnah because new rulings are based on the causes discovered in the legislation of the Quran and Sunnah.

17. Steps to address a modern issue… • STEP 1:Look to the Qur’an, the major source of everything in Islam. • STEP 2:The Sunna, the ‘practice’ of the prophet sets out what he said, did or permitted. • STEP 3: The consensus view (ijma) of past generations of Muslim doctors of the law provides answers to matters not mentioned in the Qur’an or Sunna. • STEP 4: Analogies or Qiyas from the Qur’an and Sunna provide answers to modern problems.

18. Abortion Islamic teaching in general opposes abortion. Muslims do not emphasise that life begins at conception, because of a generally accepted interpretation of the Qur’an that the human is created out of a clot of blood (Sura 22.5).

19. Where Did We Come From? Sura 22:5. O people, if you have any doubt about resurrection, (remember that) we created you from dust, and subsequently from a tiny drop, which turns into a hanging (embryo), then it becomes a fetus that is given life or deemed lifeless. We thus clarify things for you. We settle in the wombs whatever we will for a predetermined period.* We then bring you out as infants, then you reach maturity. While some of you die young, others live to the worst age, only to find out that no more knowledge can be attained beyond a certain limit. Also, you look at a land that is dead, then as soon as we shower it with water, it vibrates with life and grows all kinds of beautiful plants.

20. Sura 22.5 – another translation • O people! if you are in doubt about the raising, then surely We created you from dust, then from a small seed, then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh, complete in make and incomplete, that We may make clear to you; and We cause what We please to stay in the wombs till an appointed time, then We bring you forth as babies, then that you may attain your maturity; and of you is he who is caused to die, and of you is he who is brought back to the worst part of life, so that after having knowledge he does not know anything; and you see the earth sterile land, but when We send down on it the water, it stirs and swells and brings forth of every kind a beautiful herbage.

21. Abortion • One of the most reliable Hadith states that Allah will sever relationship with anyone who severs the ties of the womb. • If the mother’s life is threatened, abortion is permissible because of the value of the mother’s life, as Allah provides for all the living.

22. Biotechnological interventions… • Any biotechnological interventions to assist procreation must respect the divine will for life, sexual expression and marriage. • Using the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, Muslims generally allow artificial insemination of a woman with the sperm of her husband, but do not allow it if another man’s sperm is used.

23. Euthanasia… • Islamic teaching on this is ambiguous. • Allah is the source of life and laone decides when a person will die. • Muslims submit to the divine will of Allah and may not interfere with God’s plan. • Euthanasia is always wrong, as is suicide.

24. Ethics of Stem Cell Research • Rabbi J. David Bleich says vitro embryos are viable and must not be destroyed. • BUT, the position of the conservative movement is that embryos can be disposed of if they are no longer needed. Rabbis Dorff and Mackler state that you can use embryos for research and healing. • The Mishneh states that in the first 40 days of gestation the foetus is not fully human, so stem cell research would seem to be permissible.

25. Embryo Research Human embryos may be an ideal source of ‘stem cells’ which can be grown into replacement tissues for transplantation into people. Rabbi Elliot N. DORFF suggests that while the Jewish tradition accepts both natural and artificial means to overcome illness and physicians are partners of God in the act of healing, we have a duty to develop and use any therapies that can aid us in taking care of our bodies, which ultimately belong to God.

26. Human embryos … As we are not God, we must take whatever precautions we can to ensure that our actions do not harm ourselves or our world. We are, as Genesis says, supposed to work the world and preserve it, it is that balance which is our duty.

27. Human embryos … • Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff also claims that during the first 40 days of gestation, the status of the embryo is “…as if they were simply water…”. As a result, frozen embryos may be discarded or used for reasonable purposes, and so stem cells procured from them.

28. Cloning • Cloning is a medical reality. • Some authorities state that cloning involves no sexual relationship so it would not fulfill the mitzvah to procreate according to Jewish Law. • According to Jewish law there could be 2 mothers – the donor + gestational mother • Jewish law focuses on parturition (the act of giving birth) and birth. So the birth mother would be seen as the ‘real’ mother’.

29. Cloning • There is no clear consensus yet in Jewish law regarding cloning. • Two chief rabbis of Israel are reported to disagree. • At least one prominent American halachic authority has ruled that cloning is permitted in certain instances. • In traditional Judaism, religious status is passed down through the mother and tribal designation is passed down through the father. Therefore if the clone has no parents, how would the religion be passed down?

30. Cloning Who is the mother ? – the genetic mother (egg donor) or the birth mother (gestational mother) When the Torah commands : “Honour your father and mother,” Who is the mother? Is there a father? The Torah tells us about the origins of creation when God created all things, including man and woman. Does coning interfere with the deeply held belief that God created the world?

31. Cloning • Halachah views cloning as not being the ideal way to reproduce. • Clones however would be seen as fully human and so would be treated with respect and dignity.

32. Analyse how the teachings of Islam might determine a response in the area of bioethics.

33. Analyse how the teachings of Islam might determine a response in the area of bioethics. • Define bioethics – relate specifically to Islam. • Refer to Islamic law and procedures and the 5 commonly held concepts. • Provide some responses to some bioethical issues.