Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 14 (1):29-41 (2011)
Abstract |
Ever since the start of the twentieth century, a growing interest and importance of studying fatwas can be noted, with a focus on Arabic printed fatwas (Wokoeck 2009). The scholarly study of end-of-life ethics in these fatwas is a very recent feature, taking a first start in the 1980s (Anees 1984; Rispler-Chaim 1993). Since the past two decades, we have witnessed the emergence of a multitude of English fatwas that can easily be consulted through the Internet (‘e-fatwas’), providing Muslims worldwide with a form of Islamic normative guidance on a huge variety of topics. Although English online fatwas do provide guidance for Muslims and Muslim minorities worldwide on a myriad of topics including end-of-life issues, they have hardly been studied. This study analyses Islamic views on (non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide as expressed in English Sunni fatwas published on independent—i.e. not created by established organisations—Islamic websites. We use Tyan’s definition of a fatwa to distinguish between fatwas and other types of texts offering Islamic guidance through the Internet. The study of e-fatwas is framed in the context of Bunt’s typology of Cyber Islamic Environments (Bunt 2009) and in the framework of Roy’s view on the virtual umma (Roy 2002). ‘(Non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide’ are defined using Broeckaert’s conceptual framework on treatment decisions at the end of life (Broeckaert 2008). We analysed 32 English Sunni e-fatwas. All of the e-fatwas discussed here firmly speak out against every form of active termination of life. They often bear the same structure, basing themselves solely on Quranic verses and prophetic traditions, leaving aside classical jurisprudential discussions on the subject. In this respect they share the characteristics central in Roy’s typology of the fatwa in the virtual umma. On the level of content, they are in line with the international literature on Islamic end-of-life ethics. English Sunni e-fatwas make up an influential and therefore important developing body of Islamic orthodox normative authority on end-of-life ethics that is still open for further research
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Keywords | Islam Fatwa End-of-life ethics Voluntary euthanasia Non-voluntary euthanasia Assisted suicide |
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DOI | 10.1007/s11019-010-9280-1 |
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References found in this work BETA
Muslim Medical Ethics: From Theory to Practice.Jonathan E. Brockopp & Thomas Eich (eds.) - 2008 - University of South Carolina Press.
Reporting on "Islamic Bioethics" in the Medical Literature: Where Are the Experts?Hasan Shanawani & Mohammad Hassan Khalil - 2008 - In Jonathan E. Brockopp & Thomas Eich (eds.), Muslim Medical Ethics: From Theory to Practice. University of South Carolina Press.
Islamic Ethics of Life: Abortion, War, and Euthanasia.Jonathan E. Brockopp (ed.) - 2003 - University of South Carolina Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
Between Quality of Life and Hope. Attitudes and Beliefs of Muslim Women Toward Withholding and Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Treatments.Chaïma Ahaddour, Stef Van den Branden & Bert Broeckaert - 2018 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 21 (3):347-361.
Travelling Bioethics.Henk ten Have & Bert Gordijn - 2011 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 14 (1):1-3.
“God is the Giver and Taker of Life”: Muslim Beliefs and Attitudes Regarding Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia.Chaïma Ahaddour, Stef Van den Branden & Bert Broeckaert - 2018 - Ajob Empirical Bioethics 9 (1):1-11.
Precaution : Do Not Proceed.Ahmed B. Al-Khafaji, Ali Moughania & Mohammed Al-Saadi - 2015 - American Journal of Bioethics 15 (1):23-25.
Normativity of Heterogeneity in Clinical Ethics.Ilhan Ilkilic - 2015 - American Journal of Bioethics 15 (1):21-23.
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