ISLAM AND BIOETHICS: Beyond Abortion and Euthanasia

Author: Brockopp, Jonathan E.

Source: Journal of Religious Ethics, Volume 36, Number 1, March 2008 , pp. 3-12(10)

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Abstract:

Muslim theologians, jurists, and healthcare workers have been addressing the challenges of modern biotechnology for years. Major textbooks on religion and bioethics cover Islam in one or two articles, offering only a general introduction to these important discussions. The five articles in this issue of the Journal of Religious Ethics, originating from a conference at Pennsylvania State University, are unusual in the specificity of their topics—brain death, feeding tubes, sex selection, spiritual counseling, and organ transplantation—and in their engagement with complex discussions in the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. In this essay, I introduce the five articles and consider two larger implications: the changing definition of the human person in light of biotechnological advances and the continuing importance of religious traditions, especially Islam, in legitimizing ethical responses to these advances.

Keywords: death; personhood; exceptionalism; legitimate authority; Muslim ethicists

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9795.2008.00333.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of History and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania State University, 406 Weaver Building, University Park, PA 16802, 814.863.1338, Email: jeb38@psu.edu

Publication date: 2008-03-01