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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2013; 03(01): 8-14
DOI: 10.4103/2231-0770.112788
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Western and Islamic bioethics: How close is the gap?

Hassan Chamsi-Pasha
Department of Cardiology, King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
,
Mohammed Ali Albar
Department of Medical Ethics, International Medical Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract

The relation between Islam and medicine has been described as intimate. Muslims are expected to be moderate and balanced in all matters, including health. Islamic law is based on a complete system of morality that can provide a moral context in medicine from a legal perspective. Islamic teaching is also very flexible and adaptable to many new and novel situations. Islamic Ethics also upholds "the four principles" of biomedical ethics proposed by Beauchamp and Childress. Several authors claim that the roots of these principles are clearly identifiable in Islamic teachings. However, there are some differences in the applications of these principles. This article shed light on the roots of the four principles in Islamic teachings and elaborates on the differences between Islamic and contemporary western bioethics.

Keywords

Bioethics - ethics - Islam - principles - western


Publication History

Article published online:
09 August 2021

© 2013. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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