Islamset - Talking to Each Other

Health Policy, Ethics and Human Values - An Islamic Perspective

TALKING TO EACH OTHER
Hassan Hathout

The word 'religion' has fallen out of favour in many scientific and non-scientific circles. Experiences in many international meetings clearly indicate that words like 'God' and 'morality' are almost taboo. Even clergymen attending these conferences tactfully avoid their mention as if they were obscene words. It was a bold step on the part of CIOMS therefore to invite religious points of view among discussion relating to health policy, ethics and human values, and the experience was quite enriching. One could not avoid nothing, however that the prevalent pattern of thinking was the 'godless' one, expressed in the Athens Conference by the views of secular humanism (branded a new religion by Newsweek) claiming that human values have to be made by human beings and without reference to any supernatural power. The goings-on in the Eastern and Western super-powers that assume the leadership of humanity clearly show that, whereas the one denies the existence of God altogether, the other acknowledge His existence but confines Him to the sphere of personal worship and denies Him access to such human fields as politics, economics, and public morality.

The explanation of this state of affairs is forthcoming if we look at the historical background. Human knowledge accumulated since the down of history and leaped forward through the Egyptian, Greek and Roman eras in the West and the Sumerian, Persian, Indian and Chinese civilizations in Asia. The ministry of Jesus Christ was an important landmark among human history, but after Him, Christians were the target of harsh oppression and savage persecution until well into the Fourth Century, where by a stroke of luck things underwent complete reversal, Leading a military campaign in North Europe, Constantine came to know of a plot to oust him from his position in the government of Rome succeeding his deceased father, and decided to turn back to fight for his right. Approaching Rome, he noticed one of the signals of the Christians, on which was written the phrase 'Under this sign you win'. He pledged to support these people if he won, which he did, and he became the first Christian emperor. The oppressed became the rulers overnight, and in its over-reaction the Church took hold of all human affairs, obstructed scientific progress, persecuted and executed scientists and reigned over what Europe now calls the Dark Ages. When science won its long battle again, the over-reaction was to put into social exile the Church and all it represented, including God Himself. The schism between religion and science was then created, and still remains.

The history of Islam was not subject to this experience. The first word revealed in the Qoran was "Read" and the pursuit of knowledge was a mandatory religious duty. There is no clergy in Islam and no censorship on intellectual and scientific pursuit. In fact it was contact with Islam that shook Europe out of the Dark Ages into the enlightenment and renaissance.

Moreover, Islam is a comprehensive way of individual and communal life, and Qoranic instructions cover the whole spectrum from worship to legislation. In the latter it describes a broad flexible legal system within the framework of which the human mind has to work hard in order to legislate for new situations ensuring upon changing times and circumstances, The sources of Islamic jurisprudence are the 'Qoran' and the 'Teachings' of the Prophet, but also 'analogy' and 'consencus', for one should not expect every future happening to be mentioned by the Qoran or the Prophet. As Sam Gorovitz mentioned at Noordwijk, "You cannot look up organ donation in the index of the Bible. The Qoran does not speak about the limits of genetic therapy'. This is indeed fortunate, or else the human intellect would have been superfluous, and Man reduced to a programmed creature. Islam gives goals, guidelines and limits not to be transgressed. Otherwise the whole arena of human life has to be based on in-depth study and sound judgement ever evolving and never with a closed end. Conclusions so derived are adopted provided they are not in conflict with the spirit of clear instructions of religion; and on this basis Islam acquired a tremendous wealth of jurisprudence based on the intellectual acumen of varying scholars or juristic schools. Between themselves they might arrive at different conclusion, but there is a built-in acknowledgement and acceptance of divergence of honest human opinions so long as they do not contradict the basic teachings and so long as the ethics of disagreement are not breached.

Because of the all-encompassing nature of Islam, the pursuit of knowledge and scientific research (in religious jargon referred to as the unravelling of God's tradition in His creation) must be applied in all spheres of life, and hence the great contributions of the Islamic civilization to such sciences as medicine, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy and all the rest, as well as to the humanities, language, jurisprudence, philosophy, etc.

Since the pursuit of knowledge is an aim in itself, it is inevitable that self-imposed isolation from any potential source of knowledge would be self-defeating. Open windows on other cultures or religions are a must, as well as a full opportunity to scholars of all creeds or religions to unfold their full potential in advancing knowledge. This was admirably observed during the ascent of Islamic civilization and should guide humanity forever. Values should never be imposed by force or pressure, but an awareness and understanding of one another's views is always enriching.

The ongoing dialogue on Health Policy, Ethics an human Values Organized by CIOMS has been a successful forum where various cultural and religious (and even irreligious) backgrounds are engaged in exchanging ideas in an open and civilized way. We attended and contributed ad Muslims at Athens and Noordwijk, but in both instances we did not feel that the opportunity was ample enough to fully explain Islamic views. New advances in medical sciences are confronting the worked with a full battery of ethical issues that are knocking policymakers off balance. No budget can satisfy all that is needed, yet the ladder of priorities seems to vary quite appreciable when drawn on a dollar-based scale rather than on a "value-based scale". Shall we heed values or prices ? And who should spell the values - God or Man? It is felt that Islam has something to say on these issues, something that we should like to offer and share with the rest of humanity. To create an adequate opportunity we thought it worthwhile to hold this Seminar under the title of "Islamic Perspectives". At least it should proved some knowledge of Islam's stand on such issues. At most it might offer a few thoughts that the non-Muslim world may wish to quote, adapt or adopt. During the process of healthy dialogue we are sure to sow the seeds Of better mutual understanding and break more and more of the shackles of long-time prejudice and misunderstanding. On this Seminar we cannot lose. We can only win.