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Presentation
on November 1, 2013 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH
(Harvard), drPH (Harvard) Faculty of Medicine King Fahad Medical City Riyadh at
pre-conference dinner of the International Conference and Workshop held at
Banda Aceh, Indonesia under the theme ‘Meningkaktan Pelayan Kesehatankepadapasiensdengankaidah
tauhid’
Every society
succeeds if its activities are aligned with its world-view. The practice of
medicine by Muslims must therefore be aligned with the Islamic world view, al
tasawwur al Islami, or the Qur’anic world-view, tasawwurqur’aniyyatkawniyyat
that derives from the integrative doctrine of tauhid. The search for
an Islamic perspective in medicine started in earnest with the dawn of the 15th
century of hijra when the First International Conference on Islamic Medicine
was held in Kuwait in 1981. Another milestone was the definition of Islamic
medicine as medicine that conforms or does not contradict Islamic paradigms, values,
ethics, and Law and not as specific therapies or procedures.This paradigmatic
shift led to founding of the Islamic hospital consortium and the Islamic
medical college consortium that have been working to make the Islamic
perspective of medicine a reality. A basic foundation stone of this change is a
Muslim medical professional. The present definitions of professionalism
reflected the western secular world-view so the author made an effort to study
basic Islamic pardigms and formulate an Islamic definition of professionalism.Professionalism
from an Islamic perspective should be based on basic values that consist of
faith (iman), consciousness (taqwat), best character (ahsan al
akhlaq), excellent performance (itqaan al ‘amal), strife toward
perfection (ihsan), responsibility (amanat), and
self-accountability (muhasabat al nafs). Iman improves professionalism in two ways: (a) motivating the
practice of holistic medicine emanating from the integrative doctrine of tauhid
(b) making the physician more humble and less arrogant through the realization
that he is an agent and the not the cause of cure; cure is in Allah’s
pre-determination, qadar. Taqwat makes the physician conscious of
his duties and meticulous in performance in the full knowledge that Allah is
watching and knows all what is being done unlike human observers who cannot see
hidden mistakes and bad intentions. Akhlaq ensure the best human
interaction between the physician on one hand and the patients and professional
colleagues on the other hand manifesting as balance (tawazun), humility
(tawadh’u), brotherhood (ukhuwwat), social respectability (muru’at),Itqan
andihsan motivate the physician to improve his skills and knowledge to
have the best outcome in his medical procedures. The physician should take his
work as a trust (amanat), involving: sincerity of intentions (ikhlas
al niyyat); quality work (itqan&ihsan), and social responsibility. The physician
will accept accountability (muhasabat) for any defects in the work and
will be ready to make corrections and amends.
Table #1: Proposed Islamic formulation of the basic values of
professionalism
Faith (iman)
Consciousness (taqwat)
Best character (ahsan al akhlaq),
Excellent performance (itqaan al ‘amal),
Strife toward perfection (ihsan),
Responsibility (amanat),
Self-accountability (muhasabat al nafs).