Topic 2 | Ethical Relationships: Home

Amidst growing concerns about radical religious terrorism and general misinformation about the Islamic faith, this authoritative, academic guide reveals the rich historical development and core theological teachings of the world's second-largest religion. By covering Islam's philosophical development in detail alongside biographical treatments of several key thinkers, this title unveils the beliefs of an oft-misunderstood religion. Through an in-depth exploration of Muslim principles, this title demystifies Islam and provides a greater context in which to understand the Islamic faith.

This new volume presents a diverse and fascinating set of explorations of adab in contemporary Muslim Southeast Asia. This concept from classical Islamic tradition is glossed by the editor as “beautiful behavior” in the book’s subtitle, and further defined by Rozehnal in the introduction as both “the public display of an individual’s internal moral character” (p. 3) on the micro-level and “a sort of civilisational glue” (ibid.) on the macro-level.

The paper aims at outlining some of the most important ethical concepts in the Islamic tradition, particularly in rational theology (kalām), classical philosophy (falsafa), and Sufi mysticism (taṣawwuf). It attempts thereby to highlight their theoretical and methodological differences as well as their common characteristics in dealing with
fundamental ethical questions. For this purpose the article begins with the explanation of a number of basic terms,
and continues with a brief account on some important ethical aspects of the primary scriptural sources, the Quran and the Sunna, which serve as a foundation for ethical theories in all three mentioned currants of Islam.

Healthcare providers are oftentimes confronted with ethical issues regarding peoples of different cultures, the resolution of which differs from that of their own. The inability of service providers to effectively handle sensitive issues such as the termination of pregnancy can result in enormous prolonged suffering for both the parents and the affected children. It is therefore crucial for healthcare workers to be sensitive to the norms of different cultures to be able to deal effectively with specific ethical issues. In particular, it is crucial to be adequately acquainted with the norms of the major faiths of the world, especially when dealing with matters of a sensitive nature such as this.

Abortion is among the most widely discussed concepts of medical ethics. Since the well-known ethical theories have emerged from Western world, the position of Islamic ethics regarding main issues of medical ethics has been overlooked. Muslims constitute a considerable amount of world population. Turkish Republic is the only Muslim country ruled with secular democracy and one of the three Muslim countries where abortion is legalized. The first aim of this paper is to present discussions on abortion in Islamic ethics in the context of major ethical concepts; the legal status of the fetus, respect for life and the right not to be born. The second aim is to put forth Turkey's present legislation about abortion in the context of Islamic ethical and religious aspects.

Availability of advanced medical technology has generated various new moral issues such as abortion, cloning and euthanasia. The use of medical technology, therefore, raises questions about the moral appropriateness of sustaining life versus taking life or allowing someone to die. Moreover, the world-wide discussion on euthanasia has assumed different dimensions of acceptance and rejection. The modern advanced medical technology has brought this issue under extensive focus of philosophers and religious authorities. The objective of this article is to consider the Islamic ethical position on euthanasia with a view to appreciating its com-prehensiveness and investigating how an Islamic approach to medical treatment addresses the issue. The study observes that Allah gives life and has the absolute authority of taking it. In other words, the Qur'an prohibits consenting to one's own destruction which could be related to terminally ill patients who give consent to mercy killing. The study equally revealed that death is not the final destination of human beings but the hereafter; therefore, a believer should not lose hope when facing difficulties, suffering and hardship but should instead keep hope alive. The study calls on Muslims to ensure that Islamic teachings on medical ethics are entrenched in all fabrics of human endeavour.

Since the days of the Djāhiliyya, when the most beautiful of girls was referred to as a ghāniya – she who needs nothing to add to her natural beauty – procedures to change the appearance such as hair dying, depilation and so forth have been discussed in Muslim law books. Islam welcomes plastic surgeries as long as it is practised for people's benefit, for a sound reason and not for luxury purposes. In this paper I would like to survey the changing attitudes to these issues from the beginning of Islam to the present day.

"This study aims to investigate the relationship between individuals' attitudes about acceptance of aesthetic surgery (e.g. rhinoplasty, autoplasty, blepharoplasty, and mammaplasty) and some of the worship practices in Islamic religion such as performing prayer, fasting, and going to pilgrimage. Although many people think that aesthetic surgery is inappropriate in Islamic religion, no studies in the literature were found to have investigated this issue."

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of cosmetic surgery among Saudi female University students and to assess their experiences and attitudes toward cosmetic surgery.

In her book Domestic Violence and the Islamic Tradition, Ayesha Chaudry gives an extensive study of the Qur'anic verse (4:34) that describes the relationship between men and women with an explanation of the behavior of women in accordance to being good or bad, and how the husbands have the authority to discipline their wives.

It's a startling statistic - 1 in 4 women are survivors of domestic violence here in the United States. For men, it's 1 in 9 according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. What we don't always hear about is how factors of race, religion and ethnicity affect how that violence is addressed or ignored. Rowaida Abdelaziz of the Huffington Post has recently reported that Muslim women face what she calls distinct and arduous obstacles when seeking help after an incident. She spoke with over a dozen Muslim survivors for her story, and she joins us now from our studios in New York.

Islam does not condone domestic violence. The Qur'an does not sanction the idea of honour killings. This is the loud and clear message from almost 60 prominent Muslim organizations, dozens of community leaders and activists from all over Canada, and a sermon that will be delivered from mosque pulpits next Friday even as the high-profile Shafia trial continues in Kingston.