I was sick and you did not visit me”: Islamic and Christian Approaches to Theological Bioethics
Timothy Carey, MA, PhD Candidate, Boston College
From treatment to care to cure, much has been written within the Christian tradition regarding the relationship of the body to the soul and how metaphysical questions of pain, suffering, death, and salvation can and should be addressed by religious leaders and medical professionals alike. In these cases, religion informed by medicine can instruct us as to what steps and interventions should and should not be undertaken in life as it is lived both physically and spiritually. To propose an approach to theological bioethics that affirms the inherent dignity of those afflicted with disease and illness based in the common good tradition of Christianity (and Catholicism specifically), it is then possible to focus on the place of justice and how this justice touches everyone within society – specifically those most marginalized members.
Similarly, Islam has developed a long line of reasoned discourse regarding the spiritual and physical life of the believer. Quite interestingly, neither life is mutually exclusive as there are spiritual dimensions to the biological life and biological dimensions to the spiritual life. Regarding the health and well-being of the Muslim, Islam has a series of foundational texts which the religious leader must interpret and adapt when confronted by questions of a bioethical nature. Selections from the Mishkat al-Masabih – including Sunni hadith literature and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad – can constitute a rich source of material for those engaged in the study of Islamic bioethics as well as for those who attempt to reconcile the relationship between medicine and religion.
This paper will explore the similarities and the differences between a Sunni Muslim and a Catholic approach to theological bioethics as a foundation for how religious scholars from those traditions can speak to each other focusing on the place of justice, even through the very real limitations of different frames of reference and theological traditions. In a practical sense, Muslim and Christian religious leaders in developing countries – such as Kenya, my primary area of interest – are increasingly being asked to serve as stewards of both the body and the spirit thereby reformulating basic norms of social and medical justice. This then highlights the precarious relationship between the physiological and spiritual aspects of care. Especially in light of developments in Nairobi with regard to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, African Catholic and Sunni Muslim leaders and lay practitioners are developing vocabularies and structures for dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic which itself represents an advance in theological bioethics for both faith traditions. This recent development, this paper will argue, is in itself a form of inter-sectional and inter-disciplinary dialogue since both medicine and religion are trying to find a common ground to communicate in the face of widespread suffering.
From treatment to care to cure, much has been written within the Christian tradition regarding the relationship of the body to the soul and how metaphysical questions of pain, suffering, death, and salvation can and should be addressed by religious leaders and medical professionals alike. In these cases, religion informed by medicine can instruct us as to what steps and interventions should and should not be undertaken in life as it is lived both physically and spiritually. To propose an approach to theological bioethics that affirms the inherent dignity of those afflicted with disease and illness based in the common good tradition of Christianity (and Catholicism specifically), it is then possible to focus on the place of justice and how this justice touches everyone within society – specifically those most marginalized members.
Similarly, Islam has developed a long line of reasoned discourse regarding the spiritual and physical life of the believer. Quite interestingly, neither life is mutually exclusive as there are spiritual dimensions to the biological life and biological dimensions to the spiritual life. Regarding the health and well-being of the Muslim, Islam has a series of foundational texts which the religious leader must interpret and adapt when confronted by questions of a bioethical nature. Selections from the Mishkat al-Masabih – including Sunni hadith literature and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad – can constitute a rich source of material for those engaged in the study of Islamic bioethics as well as for those who attempt to reconcile the relationship between medicine and religion.
This paper will explore the similarities and the differences between a Sunni Muslim and a Catholic approach to theological bioethics as a foundation for how religious scholars from those traditions can speak to each other focusing on the place of justice, even through the very real limitations of different frames of reference and theological traditions. In a practical sense, Muslim and Christian religious leaders in developing countries – such as Kenya, my primary area of interest – are increasingly being asked to serve as stewards of both the body and the spirit thereby reformulating basic norms of social and medical justice. This then highlights the precarious relationship between the physiological and spiritual aspects of care. Especially in light of developments in Nairobi with regard to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, African Catholic and Sunni Muslim leaders and lay practitioners are developing vocabularies and structures for dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic which itself represents an advance in theological bioethics for both faith traditions. This recent development, this paper will argue, is in itself a form of inter-sectional and inter-disciplinary dialogue since both medicine and religion are trying to find a common ground to communicate in the face of widespread suffering.