Islamic Center of Southern California

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First of all, morality is a primary requirement in all walks of life, so that virtuous and moral conduct may prevail as a daily way of life for the individual as well as the family. If that is the case, the whole society will be very much like one body in which a discomfort felt by one organ is echoed by all others. Likewise, different sciences form one body of knowledge where progress and development in one is reflected in all the others. This is particularly true with medicine, the distinguishing feature of which is that it is the closest to man who has been honored and elevated above all other creatures on earth.

The first priority of science should be man's happiness through alleviating his pains and realizing his hopes and ambitions. Nevertheless, some imaginative scientists have lately been toying with ideas that could jeopardise man's dignity and infringe upon his sanctity, when newly developed medicines or methods of treatment are tried on him. Many of these innovations have gone beyond the stage of experimentation and are being adopted in medical practice.

It was imperative, therefore, to watch these developments very closely and conduct research on them to find out the extent to which they conform to the rulings of the Islamic Sharia. Research was also required to reach the most practical guidelines on these innovated medical practices with a view to protecting man's dignity; otherwise, we will wake up one day to find on our hands seriously deformed children as a result of using certain new medicines or methods of treatment.

Besides, the rights and duties of doctors and other workers in the field of health services have become a hazy area, which may lead to medical errors. That is the real worry for a lot of citizens especially at a time when the introduction of electronic equipment and health insurance have compromised the confidentiality of the patients' information.

The main objective of all these efforts is to make sure that a doctor is really God's means of bringing mercy to His servants. Describing the medical profession, Imam Shafi'ie says: "Next to Islamic Sharia, the noblest and most distinguished science that I know of is medicine."

On the same subject, Ibn Rushd says: "The relationship between medicine and wisdom is a matter of methodology. One cannot take up the medical profession without being fully conversant with logic. A good physician is necessarily a philosopher: semantically a philosopher is a person who likes wisdom" Islamic Center of Southern California