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231028P - WORLDWIDE ABSENCE OF ISLAMIC VALUES AND ETHICS IN HEALTH PRACTICE: FACTS AND IMPACTS

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Presentation at an Online Symposium held on October 28, 2023 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK). MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics

 

1.0 DEFINITION OF VALUES AND ETHICS

  • Ethics: a branch of philosophy that studies what is right and wrong.
  • Akhlaqiyyat is not an Arabic translation for ethics; the difference between ethics and law.
  • Western perspective ethics is not always legal and vice versa.
  • Islamic perspective ethics = Law. Haram = unethical and halal is ethical.

 

2.0 ISLAMIC VALUES

  • Islamic values (القيم الاخلاقية) are universal human values that shape the human personality and behavior and apply to every place and time. They are not exclusive to Muslims others may share some of them with Muslims.
  • Values reflect the basic fitra of the human and are consonant with the mission of the human on earth which is ibadat in its widest sense manifested at the societal level by the three concepts of: istikhlaf (استخلاف), taskhiir (تسخير), and isti’maar (استعمار). The three are closely related to respect for life.
  • Values are understandable from appreciating the duality of the human as nafs and jasad as well as the balance between the two in varying circumstances

 

3.0 SOURCES OF VALUES

  • The Qur’an and sunnat are the primary source of all values.
  • Some secondary values can be derived from the primary sources by human reasoning.  There is harmony between the 2 sources: تكامل القل والنقل
  • The prophet’s life was a practical manifestation of the Islamic values.
  •  لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا . الأحزاب ٢١
  • The shari’at comprises all values.  It is positive law + morality/ethics.
  •  لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا. المائدة ٤٨
  • Maqasid al shari’at. Values are practical and not only philosophical constructs.
  • Values depend on the worldview: Quranic worldview is holistic = nafs + jasad). A secular worldview is material jasad only.

 

4.0 FOCUS ON RESPECT FOR LIFE

  • Khilafa has to do with life. First failure of the human was when he killed. The angels knew the human nature fisq and fasaad
  • وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ . البقرة ٣٠
  • For lack of time and expertise focus on only the value of respecting human life. It is the main one: مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِي الْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ. المائدة ٣٢.

 

5.0 SOURCE OF SECULAR ETHICS: EUROPEAN ETHICAL THEORIES

  • Utilitarian consequence-based theory (balance of good and bad, relative, no absolute right and wrong). JEREMY BENTHAM 1747-1832 & JOHN STUART MILL 1806-1873
  • Obligation-based theory (moral obligations, absolute right and wrong). IMMANUEL KANT 1724-1804
  • Rights-based theory based on respect for human rights (individual rights).
  • Community-based theory (community decides).
  • Relation-based theory (family and physician-patient relations).
  • Case-based theory (practical case-by-case decision)

 

6.0 UNESCO UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ON BIOETHICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS 2005

 

7.0 SOURCE OF ISLAMIC ETHICS: Maqasid from Qur’an and sunnat

  • Protection of Morality, حفظ الدين
  • Protection of Life, حفظ النفس
  • Protection of Progeny, حفظ النسل
  • Protection of the Mind, حفظ القل
  • Protection of Wealth / resources, حفظ المال

 

8.0 AL MUAWAFAQAAT FI USUUL AL SHARIA’T

 

9.0 OATH OF A MUSLIM PHYSICIAN

 

10.0 MALAYSIAN MEDICAL GRADUATES TAKING THE OATH OF THE MUSLIM PHYSICIAN

 

11.0 BOOK OF MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE

 

12.0 NAZI VIOLATIONS OF LIFE IN WWII

 

13.0 JAPANESE HUMAN EXPERIMENTS

 

14.0 THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY 1932 – 1972

 

15.0 THE BELMONT REPORT 1972

 

16.0 ABORTION: COMPARISON OF FETAL WASTAGE US vs NIGER in 2020

  •  وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْئًا كَبِيرًا . الاسراء ٣١
  • The US induced abortion ratio was 198 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2020[1].
  • The US-induced abortion rate was 11.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years,
  • The US infant mortality ratio was 5.44 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021[2],
  • Niger-induced abortion ratio in 2020 0.4-6.7 per 1000 women[3]
  • The infant mortality rate for Niger in 2020 was 43.495 deaths per 1000 live births[4]

 

17.0 SELECTIVE FEMALE ABORTION IN INDIA

  • وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْئًا كَبِيرًا. تكوير ٨-٩ 

 

18.0 FORCED STERILIZATION IN INDIA

  • On 6 August 1976, the state of Maharashtra became the first governmental unit to enact legislation mandating compulsory sterilization of men and women after the birth of a third child

 

19.0 FORCED STERILIZATION IN BANGLADESH

  • Bangladesh had a long-running government-operated civilian sterilization program as a part of its population control policy, which targets mainly poor women and men.
  • The government offers money for women to undergo tubal ligation and men to undergo vasectomy

 

20.0 COMPULSORY STERILIZATION IN Xinjian, CHINA

Xinjiang

  • Forced sterilization in Xinjiang
  • Part of Uyghur genocide

 

21.0 EUTHANASIA and PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE

Euthanasia: active vs passive.

  • حَدَّثَنَا الحُمَيْدِيُّ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأَنْصَارِيُّ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِيُّ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنَ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِيَّ، يَقُولُ: سَمِعْتُ عُمَرَ بْنَ الخَطَّابِ t عَلَى المِنْبَرِ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ: إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى دُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا، أَوْ إِلَى امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا، فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ

الأمور بمقاصدها

  • Physician-assisted suicide is legal in some countries
  • Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg,the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, parts of the United States and Australia.

  • وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ وَلَهُ اخْتِلَافُ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ (80) (المؤمنون: 80(

 

22.0 UNETHICAL CLINICAL TRIALS IN AFRICA

  • Uneducated research subjects ignorant of their rights
  • Recruited into research without proper consent
  • Exposed to risks that cannot be accepted in Europe and America
  • Pfizer meningitis trial in Nigeria 1996 meningitis epidemic
  • the company tested its antibiotic trovafloxacin (Trovan) against ceftriaxone. Families were not informed that Trovan was an experimental drug. Randomization was not proper. Parents did not know that the standard treatment was available.