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| The Ethical Dilemma Confronting Stem Cell Research |
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It is not the divergence of views, nor the plethora of opinions, that represent the problem alone, but rather the inability to reconcile them. Reconciling between the opinions can be a near impossible task, and dishonest to each opinion, when they are essentially incommensurable. Reconciling them against some common standard is a false option as a moral and ethical standard is conspicuously absent in a utilitarian paradigm and continuously evolving liberal secular society. Indeed, after the birth of secularism, through liberty, the use of utility has become increasingly dominant within public life. This is the heart of the dilemma that confronts liberal secular societies and which has led to the current impasse.
The Islamic approach to areas of contentious medical research, such as stem cell research, which involve experimenting on, or with, life - human or animal - is altogether different. The contrast of its approach is due to the contrasting ideas and principles that form its framework and its outlook on the relationship between beliefs on personal and temporal matters.
The Islamic framework seeks to expand continually the frontiers of scientific and medical research in order to reap its potential for improving the quality of human life. Indeed, the Islamic world's rich contribution to the field of medicine is widely acknowledged within the western medical profession, particularly the Moorish heritage in Andalusia. The Islamic framework does not lack an inherent standard on experimenting with human life through attempting to ensure that broader beliefs on life - which form the principal basis of many ethical paradigms - remain matters of personal faith. It is based upon one belief that consistently forms the basis of its views on ethics, morality, its political and economic philosophy, as it does on the use of medical research. As a result, it produces a system that is characterised by a degree of coherency. It is not in need of continually trading-off economic, political or technological needs with social or ethical concerns, or with the well-being of the community; a common reference point and texts define the scope of each and the inter-relationships between them. It also provides a coherent and secure framework for governing medical research, as it will not propel scientific research regardless of its consequences.
As with any human society, disagreement and difference may also exist in an Islamic society, and a complete consensus on all state medical policy may be an impossible ideal. The process of extracting Islamic legislation to tackle new problems (ijtihad), such as the use of stem cell research, may well result in differing opinions amongst jurists. But it will not oscillate between fundamentally different ethical standpoints nor stifle scientific progress through attempting to reach consensus between irreconcilable opinions on human life itself. There is agreement on the principles, ideas and sources that govern medical research, 'ethical', legal or otherwise, and the differences relate to applying them in particular circumstances. It is not halted by an impasse regarding the fundamental nature, sources and core principles that should define a framework to determine the status or legal rights of the foetus; a deadlock that still lies at the heart of the debate in the West.
The word for Islamic law - Sharia - linguistically means the path water takes; clear, unambiguous and defined. It is through the process of ijtihad that new problems are evaluated and Islamic legislative rules and principles are derived, whether in the field of medical research or otherwise. Jurists tasked with the job of extracting these rules are required to engage in an objective study of stem cell research and must analyse the nature and form of the embryo, stem cells and the biological processes concerned by drawing upon all the relevant scientific information available. Jurists then undertake a similar exercise in understanding the Islamic texts that discuss a relevant or similar subject matter, and through them a verdict is extracted. The process is defined and the extracted legislation can be evaluated by comparing it against objective measures, such as the accuracy with which it has understood the reality of the technology or of the relevant Islamic texts.
Therefore, the Islamic verdict on stem cell research is derived through this process of ijtihad.
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