Abstract
We survey the meta-ethical tools and institutional processes that traditional Islamic ethicists apply when deliberating on bioethical issues. We present a typology of these methodological elements, giving particular attention to the meta-ethical techniques and devices that traditional Islamic ethicists employ in the absence of decisive or univocal authoritative texts or in the absence of established transmitted cases. In describing how traditional Islamic ethicists work, we demonstrate that these experts possess a variety of discursive tools. We find that the ethical responsa—i.e., the products of the application of the tools that we describe—are generally characterized by internal consistency. We also conclude that Islamic ethical reasoning on bioethical issues, while clearly scripture-based, is also characterized by strong consequentialist elements and possesses clear principles-based characteristics. The paper contributes to the study of bioethics by familiarizing non-specialists in Islamic ethics with the role, scope, and applicability of key Islamic ethical concepts, such as “aims” (maqāṣid), “universals” (kulliyyāt), “interest” (maṣlaḥa), “maxims” (qawā`id), “controls” (ḍawābit), “differentiators” (furūq), “preponderization” (tarjīḥ), and “extension” (tafrī`).
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Notes
This source also functions as a methodological technique for reaching ethical conclusions. This aspect will be elaborated upon later in the paper.
Fiqh is an Arabic term, commonly translated as Islamic jurisprudence or simply Islamic law.
There are many differences between maṣlaḥah (pl. maṣaliḥ) and maqāṣid. One is that maṣaliḥ tend to be an issue themselves whereas maqāṣid are general trends found in a wide range of disparate issues. A second is that maṣaliḥ are within the realm of qiyās whereas maqāṣid are outside it. A third (following the second) is that the fuquha, as a group, tend to employ maṣaliḥ when constructing legal arguments, whereas using maqāṣid in the same way is much less accepted.
Similar councils exist in the Indian sub-continent and in South East Asia.
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Abdur-Rashid, K., Furber, S.W. & Abdul-Basser, T. Lifting the veil: a typological survey of the methodological features of Islamic ethical reasoning on biomedical issues. Theor Med Bioeth 34, 81–93 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-013-9251-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-013-9251-7