Normative account of Islamic bioethics in end-of-life care. Issue 1 (31st December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Elmahjub, Ezieddin
• Is Part Of: Global bioethics. Volume 33:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 133
• Page End: 154
• Publication Date: 2022-12-31
• Subjects: Islamic bioethics -- End-of-life-care -- bioethics -- normative ethics; Bioethics -- Periodicals; Medical ethics -- Periodicals; Bioethics; Medical ethics; Periodicals; 174.2
• DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2022.2118977
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1128-7462

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article addresses the bioethical challenges raised by end-of-life care (EoLC) from the perspective of Islamic normativity. Rejecting positivist positions, it argues for the use of a flexible approach midway between a deontological conception of human life as having a sacred value that cannot be bargained over, as represented by the teachings of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī's, and one that introduces considerations of pain (alam) and pleasure (ladhdah) into ethical evaluations, as expounded by the jurist Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī. Under this approach, described as "Islamic evaluator relativity, " moral agents formulate a normative position tailored to their beliefs and the circumstances of the case, in which the right course of action is expressed as a value judgement (amr ijtihādi) and the evaluator (mujtahid) is rewarded regardless of the choices they make. Keywords: Islamic bioethics, End-of-life-care, bioethics, normative ethics.