Normativity in Islamic Bioethics

Abstract

In Islam, debate and controversy on normativity started from the first centuries after the foundation of the religion by the Prophet Muhammad. One of the very first questions that occurred to the forefathers of Islamic Theology was on the theological bases of normativity. This debate divided Muslim theologians into two major branches: the Mu’tazilites, who believed that independent reason can be relied on as a source of normativity, and the Asha’rites, who believed that the only legitimate source for uncovering moral goodness or badness is the Holy Scripture. Shiite theology, after its initial development in the eighth and ninth centuries CE, was more inclined to the Mu’talizites’ because of the latter’s recognition of independent reason as a source of normativity.

Although Islamic theology (kalam) provides the theoretical backgrounds of moral thoughts, it is the Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) that has always been in charge of producing normative guidance and instructions in Muslim communities. Likewise, bioethical issues have been subjected to Islamic Jurisprudence. Most Muslim families ask their bioethical questions to Islamic jurists (fuqaha). In addition, in many countries with Muslim majorities, the laws and regulations must be in accordance with fiqh. At the same time, the question of normativity has also been a source of controversy among authorities and scholars of fiqh. In the field of bioethics, debatable issues such as organ marketing, third-party assisted reproduction, and brain death have made jurists to reconsider their theories on normativity at some points. For example, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the efforts to make all the health-related regulations compatible with fiqh, have raised theoretical debates on the legitimate source of bioethical normativity in Islam and how to deal with the conflicts with the globally dominant Western bioethics and its normativity. Muslim scholars have adopted four main approaches in dealing with such conflicts: (1) The mainstream of scholars and jurists in the major Seminaries believe that fiqh is a comprehensive source of guidance that is able to answer all the normative questions based on its main traditional sources; (2) The theory of mantaghat-ul-faragh; (3) The principle-based approach; and (4) The theory of minimal approach to religion proposed by the leaders of Islamic Intellectual Movement, which has not gained popularity in the mainstream of scholars or believers.

Suggested Readings

Among the following publications, the first one provides a more detailed picture on the way that normativity takes shape and becomes implemented in the laws and regulations in Iran. The second one provides a detailed picture of the content of Islamic biomedical ethics and is very helpful in understanding the principle-based approach. The third one also provides a very informative description of the challenges in front of Muslim jurists in the field of biomedical ethics and the ways they deal with these challenges.

• Aramesh, Kiarash. 2007. The Influences of Bioethics and Islamic Jurisprudence on Policy-Making in Iran. The American Journal of Bioethics 7 (10): 42–44.

• Atighetchi, Dariush. 2007. Islamic Bioethics: Problems and Perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer.

• Sachedina, Abdulaziuz. 2009a. Islamic Biomedical Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.