Lecture 3 approaches to ethical analysis (05.10.16)

How right and wrong are distinguished?
http://ghaiathme.wixsite.com/mep-course

Ethical justification
In ethics, the support/reasons ultimately come from
moral values, principles and theories:
• “I think we should do X because A and B are really
important values”
• “Y wouldn’t be appropriate because it violates
principles A and B”
• “X would be the right thing to do because of our
obligation to do A”
Jonathan Breslin, 2006

Main Western Philosophies Other philosophies Abrahamic Philosophies Oriental
philosophies
Utilitarianism African, Asian, etc. Islamic Buddhist
Deontology Human Rights Jewish Confucius
Feminist ethics Catholic Indian
Casuistry
Virtue ethics Protestant Persian
Principlism Jehovah Witnesses

Why do we need to know about western
philosophies?
•A Doctor is an international currency (you may be
practicing anywhere)
•Bridging the knowledge & cultural gaps
•Western literature & experience are steps ahead of
ours
•Ethical concepts & tools are quite universal
•No self-development with knowing others
•To call for Allah on guidance ‫تعالى‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫إلى‬ ‫الدعوة‬

Why do we need to know about western
philosophies?
•A Doctor is an international currency (you may be
practicing anywhere)
•Bridging the knowledge & cultural gaps
•Western literature & experience are steps ahead of
ours
•Ethical concepts & tools are quite universal
•No self-development without knowing others
•To reflect Islamic concepts to non-Muslims in an
appropriate manner

General characteristics of western
philosophies
•Secularism: people are free to practice
their religion but no particular religious
guidance to right & wrong
•Individualism: It’s all about I, me and
myself!
•The individual and nuclear family structure are
the societal building block.
•The individual's interest is what should come
first (vs. more collective extended family
ethics in our region)

the value of an
action is determined by its utility; all
actions should be directed toward
achieving the greatest happiness for
the greatest number of people.
 Examples: quarantine, isolation,
vaccination, etc.
 Where does utilitarianism (dis)agrees
with Islam?

actions are judged based
upon inherent right-making characteristics or
principles rather than on their consequences.
Emphasis on duty, rules and regulations, principles
and moral obligations which govern ones right
action
 Examples: Doctor’s duties to care for their patients
 Where does Duty-Based Ethics (dis)agrees with
Islam?

It emphasizes the
virtues, or moral character (who is your
virtuous model?)
• Examples: Doctors as role models.
• Should not a patient comply with a “don’t smoke” advice from a smoking doctor?!

(cont.)
(Ethics of Care) commitment to correcting male biases (e.g.
women’s subordination is morally wrong) and that the moral experience of women is as worthy of
respect as that of men.
 Where does feminisme (dis)agrees with Islam?
The greatest confidence in our moral judgments resides not at the level of
theory, where we endlessly disagree, but rather at the level of the case, where our intuitions often
converge without the benefit of theory.
 Where does Casuistry (dis)agrees with Islam?

 Autonomy: respect humans' ability
to choose,
 Beneficence: Do Good for others,
 Nonmaleficence (Do No Harm), &
 Justice (Be fair to your patients)
 Where do these principles meet with Islam?

Section IV:
Islamic approach to ethical analysis and
decision making

Ethics in Islam… not a separate entity!

How should Muslims decide their acts?
 And I (Allâh) created not the jinn and mankind except
that they should worship Me (Alone). َّ‫ن‬ ِ‫ج‬ْ‫ال‬ ُ‫ت‬ْ‫ق‬َ‫ل‬َ‫خ‬ ‫ا‬َ‫م‬ َ‫و‬
ِ‫ُون‬‫د‬ُ‫ب‬ْ‫ع‬َ‫ي‬ِ‫ل‬ ‫ال‬ِ‫إ‬ َ‫س‬ْ‫ن‬ِ‫اإل‬ َ‫و‬(‫الذاريات‬56)
 Worship in Islam includes:
 To follow the orders of Allah and His Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)
 “And whosoever does not judge by what Allâh has revealed,
such are the Kâfirûn (i.e. disbelievers - of a lesser degree as they
do not act on Allâh’s Laws” (5: 44); “And whosoever does not
judge by that which Allâh has revealed, such are the Zâlimûn
(polytheists and wrong-doers - of a lesser degree)” (5: 45); “And
whosoever does not judge by what Allâh has revealed (then)
such (people) are the Fâsiqûn [the rebellious i.e. disobedient (of
a lesser degree)” (5: 47)

1)The Koran and 2) the
Sunna,
•Ijmaa means a unanimous agreement among Muslim
Scolars on any Shariah ruling
•Qiyas refers to likening a new case in question
without textual evidence to an original ruling which is
supported by explicit legal text which shares the
same cause.
•Maslahah means deciding a ruling based on the
principle of general public interest in issues which do
not have clear and specific ruling from text of either
Al-Quran or Al-Sunnah.http://ghaiathme.wixsite.com/mep-course

1)The Koran and 2) the Sunna,
•Istihsan refers to setting aside an established ruling backed by
dalil (evidence) on a matter in favor of an alternative ruling
which is stronger and more convincing than the first ruling,
based on the support by dalil.
•Istishab refers to the presumption of continuity of the original
ruling as long as there is no other dalil to establish the
contrary.10
•Sadd Zari`ah signifies an approach used to prevent any means
to evil in order to avoid from forbidden acts. It is regarded as
an early preventive measure to keep away a Muslim from
committing actions prohibited by Allah SWT.
•`urf is defined as established norms and common to the
majority of people in a community either in the form of
sayings or doings as long as it does not contradict the Shariah
ruling.

 The are to preserve
person’s:
1. Religion;
2. Soul;
3. Mind;
4. Wealth; &
5. Progeny.
All Islamic legislations came to achieve these
goals.

•It is the methodology of
•defining, analysing and resolving the ethical
issues that arise in healthcare practice, or
research;
•based on the Islamic moral and legislative
sources (Koran, Sunna & Ijtihad); and
•aims at achieving the goals of Islamic
morality (i.e. preservation of human’s
religion, soul, mind, wealth & progeny )

• Clear and fixed sources
• Clear goals of morality (Maqasid Alshariya)
• Its moral style endorses values of:
▫ Bringing hope (‫تنفروا‬ ‫وال‬ ‫بشروا‬)
▫ Softness (‫لينا‬ ‫قوال‬ ‫له‬ ‫فقوال‬)
▫ Kindness (‫زانه‬ ‫اال‬ ‫شيء‬ ‫في‬ ‫الرفق‬ ‫كان‬ ‫ما‬)
▫ Respect for vulnerable (‫بالقوارير‬ ‫رفقا‬( )‫يوقر‬ ‫لم‬ ‫من‬ ‫منا‬ ‫ليس‬
‫صغيرنا‬ ‫ويرحم‬ ‫كبيرنا‬)

1. The principle of Intention (Qasd): Each action is judged by
the intention behind it
2. The principle of Certainty (Yaqeen): Certainty can not be
removed by doubt
3. The principle of Injury/Harm
(Dharar):
 Injury should be relieved; An
individual should not harm others or
be harmed by others
 - An injury is not relieved by inflicting
or causing a harm of the same degreehttp://ghaiathme.wixsite.com/mep-course

4. The principle of Hardship (Mashaqqat): Difficulty
calls forth ease, Necessity (Dharuraat) legalizes
the prohibited
5. The principle of - Custom or precedent (Urf):
 Custom is recognized as a source of law on which
legal rulings are based unless contradicted
specifically by text from the main legislative
sources, i.e. Koran and Sunna.

Lecture 3 approaches to ethical analysis (05.10.16)

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Lecture 3 approaches to ethical analysis (05.10.16)