Islamic Bioethics: Its Relevance in Contemporary Times with Special Reference to Abortion

Waseem Akber Baba¹

Section:Review Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.7 , Issue.7 , pp.80-82, Jul-2021

Online published on Jul 31, 2021

Copyright © Waseem Akber Baba . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
No doubt life is sacrosanct in Islam, in whatever form it exists. By virtue of its genesis, purposefully by God, life warrants appreciation, protection, and respect. In order to understand the value of life in Islam, one must begin with understanding the essence of life that Islam espouses. The reason being, Islam par excellence could be a source of bioethical principles and develop principles embedded within Islamic tradition rather than as an instrument of justification to principlism, instrumentalist approach. Pertinent to Islamic perspective and bioethics interestingly emerges a question of abortion which has become a highly controversial issue across the globe. This article, besides epistemological concerns, explains the concept of “ensoulment” and its relevance to the question of abortion in specific. Although Islamic jurisprudence essentially proscribes termination of any form of life, the construct of ensoulment, aesthetically, adds dignity to life and elevates life beyond corporeal reality. Further, it establishes a mechanism that allows discontinuation of life contingent on diagnostic affirmations. Thereby, it lays significant foundations for women’s health and, more importantly, draws an ethical distinction between “life” and “non-life”. Such inherent conceptual prudence in Islam highlights its potential relevance to biomedical ethics.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Life, Ensoulment, Bioethics, Islam, Abortion

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