Islamic perspectives on cancer genetics and gene therapy
11 December 2003
Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, USA
Islamic ethical decisions allowing procedures or actions in the field of genetics vary according to the purpose they aim to serve. The guiding principle in the sacred law is that there is seldom a thing of benefit without some inherent disadvantage affecting one's religion, body or property. Islam's concern to combine noble ends with noble means rules out the idea of good end justifying a corrupt means. Taking the specific case of genetic engineering, the most important rule is avoidance of anything that might affect human nature and human relationships. Islam forbids any tampering with human nature in any way other than legitimate methods of correction. Anything that is done for prevention or as treatment is legitimate. Ethical judgment on any medical procedure is made on the basis of predominance of benefit.
Biography
Born in Tanzania, Abdulaziz Sachedina is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. His MA/PhD is from the University of Toronto, and has BA degrees from Aligarh Muslim University in India and Ferdowsi University in Iran. He has been visiting professor at Wilfrid Laurier, Waterloo and McGill Universities in Canada, Haverford College and the University of Jordan, Amman. He has lectured widely in East Africa, India, Pakistan, Europe, and the Middle East. Professor Sachedina is a core member of the 'Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism,' Project in the CSIS Preventive Diplomacy program and a key contributor to the program's efforts to link religion to universal human needs and values in the service of peace-building. He contributed to Human Rights and the Conflict of Cultures: Western and Islamic Perspectives on Religious Liberty (University of South Carolina Press, 1988) and has authored Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). He is presently working on a major study on: Islamic Law for Muslim Physicians: The Spiritual Foundations of Biomedical Ethics in Islam.