Islam, the Pursuit of Knowledge, and the Ethics of Research

Abstract

When one thinks of “Islamic Bioethics,” the very first words that come to mind are the science, Muslim scientists, halal (licit) and haram (illicit), collective duty (fardu kifaya), Holy Qur’ān, and the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him (PBUH). In this article, we will look at Islamic bioethics from a slightly different perspective trying to show that the character of the scientist is at the heart of Islamic bioethics. We will also focus on research ethics in the hope of demonstrating that the roots of it have already been set in the Holy Qur’ān hundreds of years ago.