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The word Islam is an Arabic word that means “submission” to the will of God. It also means “peace” since its root silm has the meaning of being at peace. “Submission” to the will of Almighty God also means the acceptance of the One and Only God (Allah) as the Source of all blessings that humans enjoy as God’s creatures. Peace signifies inner peace (peace with oneself) and peace with the Creator, as well as peace with all creations. It is through total submission to the will of God that one reaches this form of peace. A Muslim is a person who believes in Allah as the One and only God and in Muhammad as his last Prophet and Messenger. 


Relationship Between God and Humanity

The human, like all of God’s creations, is in a state of total submission (Islam) to the will of Allah. The difference between humans and other creations, however, is that humans have been given the ability to think. When human minds submit to Allah, then they would have completely submitted to God. In this sense they would be referred to as “Muslims.” At this level of total and complete submission, the relationship between God and humanity is one of complete peace. Being Muslim then is to have complete obedience to Allah and acceptance of His will and commands.

The relationship between God and humans in Islam is a direct one, with no mediators. Islam also teaches that true belief and righteous deeds are two key elements for one to attain God’s pleasure and satisfaction. 

It is a fundamental Islamic belief that we were created to serve (worship) God. God has entrusted us with the great responsibility of being His deputies and representatives on this Earth. As He entrusted us with our lives, our physical beings, our wealth and our families, He also entrusted us with our communities, our environment and our Earth. 

Muslims believe that life on this Earth is only a transition period that precedes the permanent abode in the hereafter. Winning God’s pleasure in this and the next life is the goal of every Muslim. For this, Islam teaches that one needs to pursue spiritual and moral development in order to put his entire trust in God and carry out the duties prescribed in the Holy Qur’an and other teachings of the Prophet. When a person fulfills these duties, then God rewards him with mercy and forgiveness. As for those who disobey God’s laws, they are punished by being put in hell. Muslims are advised by Prophet Muhammad to work for this life as if they will live forever, and work for the hereafter life as if they will die tomorrow.


Islam is a Way of Life

Islam offered its message both to individuals and communities. It came as a beacon for the whole of humanity. As a consequence, its teachings cover aspects that impact private and public domains of human existence. The Prophet of Islam was both a religious leader and a founder of his community’s socio-political order. Hence, Islam does not separate religion from human affairs. Politics, economics, law, and all other aspects of human affairs are integrated into one system of service to God. This is the general meaning of “worship” in Islam. It teaches people to pray and it commands them to create a just society. To this end, Islam provides both the individual and the state with comprehensive guidelines and laws that regulate ethics, piety and governance. These and similar fundamentals are well defined to provide both cohesion and a sense of unity in the community--the Ummah. 

But Islam believes that the individual needs a good family to inculcate values that are necessary to create this ideal community. In fact, in Islam, human religious commitment becomes objective through the creation and maintenance of strong family ties and social relationships. It encourages close relationships in society based on justice, sensitivity, sincerity and sacrifice. Through these relationships Islam achieves its goal of an ideal community. 


Bioethics

From its inception Islam was concerned with ethics in all its aspects that affected the social well-being of individuals and the community. Social ethics was and remains an important component of Islamic religious law, the Sharia. The Qur’an and the exemplary life of the Prophet provided the two major sources for deriving the ethical and legal guidelines that were the blueprint for a Muslim life. Part of this social ethics is bioethical prescriptions to regulate health care based on distributive justice and the total welfare of those needing the health care.

At a Qur'an school in a Sufi Muslim community in Ethiopia [R. Maro/version-foto.de]

Bioethics deals with the ethical implications of both biological research and the applications of that research, especially in medicine. Although ethical issues have been faced in medicine and biology since ancient times, the large-scale introduction of new technologies in recent times has reemphasized old issues and introduced new ones, such as the withdrawal of life-sustaining medical treatment, prenatal diagnosis, storage of frozen human embryos and the use of human and animal fetal tissue for scientific research. Needless to say, these are complex issues which warrant in-depth analysis by well-informed scholars.

In Islam, for example, treatment of infertility is allowed and seen as essential if it involves the preservation of procreation and treatment of infertility. In Muslim society, for a man and a woman to have a child, they must be legally married. Today, with the advancement in technically assisted reproduction, Muslim legal and ethical scholars permit a normally infertile married couple to seek treatment to procreate by in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination. The only condition is that the fertilization of the sperm and the egg should be strictly within the legitimate marital relationship. Introducing sperm other than her lawful husband’s into a woman’s womb is forbidden. 

It is important to emphasize the role intention (niyyat) plays in Muslim religious thought. Human action is judged in accordance with the intention. It determines the purpose of an undertaking and the reward or punishment that accrues to the person. The Prophet has clearly stated: “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.” 

In this light, it is possible to consider the issue of stem cell research in Islam. The production of embryonic stem cells for research purposes, for instance, especially production at a commercial level with the purpose of exploiting others for one’s own commercial benefit, is clearly something that Islam forbids. However, surplus embryos in IVF clinics can become the source to supply stem cells for limited and well-defined therapeutic use for the curing of serious diseases, as long as the research is regulated with full accountability under the law. Similarly, human cloning, with the purpose of enhancement of the human species in its physical appearance and so on, or increasing the population or making the state stronger by cloning such humans is forbidden. However, gene therapy and genetic screening is allowed if the purpose is limited to therapeutic indications which may alleviate human suffering.


Old Age

In Muslim society, old age is always respected, and members of the family, such as the elder son, are required to provide aging parents with support and care. In fact, the entire community regards it as its collective duty to provide care for the old and disabled. In modern Muslim societies one now finds institutional provisions for the elderly whose family might not be able to provide the necessary care with the growing demands of the modern lifestyle in which both husband and wife have to go out to earn their living. 

Muslims consider themselves on a mission on this Earth, and they are committed to this mission by their belief in the Compassionate and Merciful Creator. They have responsibilities to fulfill and trusts that they must maintain at all levels of their existence. One main trust that a Muslim must take seriously is the commitment to life. It is his/her responsibility to care for life in all possible ways: Physically by keeping themselves and others out of danger, and by caring for health and fitness. Spiritually by maintaining their faith and worshiping God sincerely, in order to purify the soul and to secure spiritual tranquillity and satisfaction.


The Sacredness of Life

Islam has made human life sacred and has safeguarded its preservation. According to its teachings, aggression against human life is the second greatest sin in the sight of Allah, second only to denial of Him. The Qur’an declares, “ . . . If anyone kills a person for any reason other than for [the killing of] a person or for sowing corruption in the land, it will be as if he had killed the whole of mankind.” (5:32)

[Expuesto-Nicolas Randell/Alamy]

Whatever applies to the crime of murder likewise applies to committing suicide. Whoever takes his own life by any means whatsoever has unjustly taken a life which Allah has made sacred. Since he did not create himself, not even so much as a single cell of his body, the life of an individual does not belong to him; it is a trust given to him by God. He is not allowed to diminish it, let alone to harm or destroy it.

Our duration here on this Earth is not for us to determine or control. A Muslim believes that he has neither the right nor the power to determine his or anybody else’s time to die. Our lives belong to the Creator, and we can neither shorten nor prolong them. Although it might appear that a person committing suicide is ending his own life or that a rescue squad or a medical treatment has prolonged a person’s life, it is a basic Islamic belief that a person’s life ends only when God decides for it to end.


Can We End the Suffering?

A controversial discussion is taking place nowadays related to the right of individuals to end a life under certain circumstances. It is important to keep in mind that suffering is not seen as evil in all circumstances. Sometimes suffering functions as a source of self-purification and a lesson for others. However, there is a critical issue in particular these days with the ability of aggressive medical procedures to prolong the life of terminally ill individuals. This puts enormous pressures on the family and medical care providers to take a decision to continue medical treatments that are both expensive and sometimes futile. In Islam, this controversy is looked upon in the light of three basic criteria:

We must do our best to maintain the trust given to us by God, since He gave us life. We must do our best to maintain life. Doing our best in maintaining life implies doing as much as possible within the limits of knowledge and financial resources. We have to ensure that whatever we do does not introduce unbearable pain or suffering to the person in consideration.

In other words, if an affordable medical treatment is available, it must be administered to the patient, provided it does not expose him or her to unusual pains and suffering. On the other hand, using devices or drugs aimed at ending a person’s life is not allowed in Islam no matter how great the illness or the suffering.

Emotional factors should not be used in making the treatment decision since belief in the Will and Mercy of God provide the patient, his family, and his friends with the needed support. Muslims look upon such hardships as tests from God. Patience, persistence, and hope in Allah’s Mercy are not only prescribed for the patient and his family and friends but also are better rewarded by God.

Treatment decisions are typically discussed between the doctor and the immediate family members. The doctor is trusted to have the essential medical knowledge. As long as the efforts made are sincere and the intentions are to abide by the Islamic rules and follow God’s commands, no one is held responsible for the results. 

[©Super Stock Images]

In summary, knowing that every single person will die when God wills him to die, we all are asked to only do our best, within the Islamic regulations, in whatever treatment decisions we take.

In view of the speed of current medical and scientific developments, it is not possible to lay down definitive rules on all ethical issues. Instead we can outline the basic approach and guiding principles which can be used to address such issues. 

It is important to have an open, free and frank dialogue between research scientists and religious scholars and establish structures for the discussion of such important questions. Recently COMSTECH has taken the initiative to establish an international committee on bioethics to address these complex questions from an Islamic perspective. Continuing debate and dialogue between scholars, religious experts and researchers is needed.

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