ISLAMIC BIOETHICS: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES
INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF ETHICS, LAW, AND THE NEW MEDICINE Founding Editors DAVID C. THOMASMA DAVID N. WEISSTUB, Université de Montréal, Canada THOMASINE KIMBROUGH KUSHNER, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. Editor DAVID N. WEISSTUB, Université de Montréal, Canada Editorial Board TERRY CARNEY, University of Sydney, Australia MARCUS DÜWELL, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands SØREN HOLM, University of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom GERRIT K. KIMSMA, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands DAVID NOVAK, University of Toronto, Canada EDMUND D. PELLEGRINO, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., U.S.A. DOM RENZO PEGORARO, Fondazione Lanza and University of Padua, Italy DANIEL P. SULMASY, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, New York, U.S.A. LAWRENCE TANCREDI, New York University, New York, U.S.A. VOLUME 31 The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
Islamic Bioethics: Problems and Perspectives DARIUSCH ATIGHETCHI Second University, Naples, Italy
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-10 1-4020-4961-7 (HB) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4961-3 (HB) ISBN-10 1-4020-4962-5 (e-book) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4962-0 (e-book) Published by Springer P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands www.springer.com Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2007 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
To BIANCA, my mother
TABLE OF CONTENTS Note... Acknowledgements... xi xiii 1 INTRODUCTION TO MUSLIM LAW... 1 The Origins... 1 The Present... 7 Conclusion... 9 2 FEATURES OF ISLAMIC BIOETHICS... 13 The Value of the Different Positions... 13 The Problems of Ethical Pluralism... 14 Algeria, Tunisia, Pakistan And Iran... 16 The Dependence on Muslim Law... 18 The Political Dimension of Islamic Bioethics... 19 The Principles of Bioethics... 21 Cultural Sensibilities and Medical Ethics... 23 Bioethics and Society... 26 Bioethics and Apologetics... 28 Bioethics and Muslim Countries... 28 Conclusion... 28 3 SOME ASPECTS OF MEDICAL ETHICS... 31 Introduction... 31 Principles and Characteristics... 33 The Doctor Patient Relationship... 37 Men and Women... 39 Autonomy and Consent of the Patient... 47 Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria... 51 The Problem of Penal Mutilation... 54 Doctors and Penal Mutilation... 57 Conclusion... 63 vii
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 CONTRACEPTION AND POPULATION CONTROL... 65 Some Classic Formulations... 65 The Contemporary Debate: The Pro-Contraception Jurists... 71 Sterilisation... 78 The Opponents of Contraception... 79 The Socio-Political Context... 82 The Case of Iran... 86 Conclusion... 89 5 ABORTION... 91 Introduction... 91 The Sources of Tradition... 92 Before Ensoulment... 95 After Ensoulment... 98 The Penal System... 100 The Duration of Pregnancy... 105 Three Bioethical Problems... 106 The Debate and Contemporary Opinions... 111 Rape, Adultery and Fornication... 115 Legislation in Some Countries... 119 Abortion and the Defence of Honour... 131 Conclusion... 133 6 ASSISTED PROCREATION... 135 Introduction... 136 Legal Adoption... 139 Juridical-Religious Formulations... 140 Opinions in Shi ite Islam... 148 Problems Relative to the Embryo... 151 Society and Legislation... 154 Conclusion... 159 7 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGAN TRANSPLANTS... 161 Ethical-Juridical Principles... 161 Some Features of the Debate... 163 Transplants from Living Donors... 168 Transplants from Corpses... 170 The Debate on the Criteria of Death... 174 The Organ Trade... 178 Uterine Transplantation... 180 Xenotransplantation... 181 Some National Legislations... 183 Conclusion... 196
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix 8 AIDS... 199 Introduction... 199 Particular Aspects... 207 The Countries... 210 9 THE OPINIONS ON GENETICS... 235 Principles and Values... 235 The Debate on Genetics... 237 Human Cloning... 241 Positions Tolerating Human Cloning... 245 Research on Stem Cells... 248 The Abortion of Handicapped Foetuses... 250 Consanguineous Marriage... 254 Pre-Natal Diagnosis... 259 Conclusion... 265 10 THE END OF LIFE... 267 Suffering and Illness... 267 The Incurably and Terminally Ill Patient... 271 Palliative Care... 272 Information and Consent of the Seriously and Terminally Ill Patient... 274 The Living Will... 283 Euthanasia... 285 Suicide and Martyrdom... 290 Death... 296 Post-Mortems... 297 Conclusion... 303 11 FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN SPECIFIC MUSLIM AREAS... 305 Some Historical-Juridical Elements... 305 The Opinions in Favour of Genital Mutilation... 309 The Opinions Against Genital Mutilation... 311 The Debate in Some Countries... 316 12 THE KORAN AND MODERN SCIENCE... 327 Introduction... 327 Scientific Exegesis of the Koran... 332 Moderate Concordism... 345 The Opponents of Scientific Exegesis... 347 Conclusion... 349
x TABLE OF CONTENTS 13 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS... 353 AUTHOR INDEX... 355 SUBJECT INDEX... 365
NOTE For the terms in Arabic and other languages, a simplified system of transcription has been adopted without special signs to distinguish similar consonants or long vowels. The proper names of historic figures appear in their commonest spelling, for modern names they are shown as they appear in the sources. As there is no distinction between first name and surname, the names are shown in such a way as to make them easy to recognise. To help the reader confirm the data, we have chosen sources translated into Western languages. xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Francesco Castro (Full Professor of Muslim Law, Second University, Rome-Tor Vergata); Renzo Pegoraro (President of the Lanza Foundation, Padua); Gian Maria Piccinelli (Full Professor of Muslim Law, Second University, Naples). Special thanks to Joan Rundo for the translation and revision of the text and for her helpful comments. xiii