Islamic bioethics, as a subject of scholarly inquiry and as a repository of guidance, remains a field-in-formation for its content, scope and methodology are subject to debate. Ambiguities regarding the contours of an Islamic bioethics do not stem from the lack of a moral theology outlined by scripture, nor from a dearth of ethico-legal judgments about biomedicine formulated by Islamic jurists. Rather, the contemporary challenge is to devise bioethical frameworks that are both rooted in Islamic theology and law, yet are fully informed, and thus practically address,  the needs of patients, clinicians, religious advisors, and policymakers.

The challenges for “Islamic” bioethics are made more profound by the fact that notions about moral norms, the good, and the ethical are scattered across different Islamic sciences including moral theology (uṣūl al-fiqh), scholastic theology (ʿilm al-kalām), jurisprudence and law (fiqh), as well as within various genres and practices related to moral formation and spiritual development (taṣawwuf and adab). The multidisciplinary nature of bioethical inquiry also leads to a crisis of epistemology and legitimacy; it is not clear how much weight should be accorded to the reality on the ground (what is) when considering the moral ordering of society (what should be) as well as which register of contemporary bioethical discourse (clinical, political, societal) Islamic bioethics should attend to.

Consequently, this self-paced, intensive course introduces learners to (i) critical concepts in Islamic theology and law that undergird normative ethical frameworks, (ii) scholarly discussions regarding the methods, content and scope of an Islamic bioethics, and (iii) extant normative rulings and discursive products of applied Islamic bioethics related to end-of-life care, organ donation, and reproductive health.