Islamic Law and Islamic Bioethics: Fard Al-Kifayah and the Collective Responsibility to Care for Those Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya
Timothy Carey, MA Ph.D. (c), Boston College
As the field of study concerned with making ethical decisions in response to advances in biomedicine, Islamic theological bioethics deals with what should and should not be done in life as it is lived both physically and spiritually. On topics such as treatment, care, and cure, much has been written in Islam 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.
At its very foundation, theological bioethics from an Islamic perspective centers on issues of social justice within Muslim society, and how this justice is meant to be directed to all members of the society – particularly those least well-off. Justice, then, involves both biological and theological implications, as there is little differentiation between the spiritual and the physical life in Islam. Historically, theologians engaged in the study of bioethics have relied heavily on the foundational scriptures of Islam – the Qur’ān and hadith traditions of the Prophet Muhammad – as giving legitimacy as God’s final revelation to mankind. However, such an analysis of Islamic bioethics does not account for another different yet equally legitimate source of authority within Islam, that of Islamic jurisprudence (Arabic, uṣūl ul-fiqh). Muslims jurists and lawyers have long considered the impact of advances in healthcare and biomedicine within Islam, and elements of theological bioethics consequently must also be seen as operating in the domain of law.
Looking at the Islamic legal principle of fard al-kifayah or “collective responsibility,” this paper asserts that the community is responsible for providing a basic level of care and treatment for those most marginalized members. The social justice promoted by Islamic theological bioethics, therefore, must be the motivating principle for the entire community, particularly in societies where disease has reached an epidemic scale. For example, religious leaders in in Nairobi, Kenya have been dealing with the lived implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and fard al-kifayah in this case can be seen as operative in promoting an inclusive bioethical response informed by a commitment to social justice based in Islamic law.
The paper proceeds in the following way. It first considers textual accounts concerning healthcare and justice in hadith sources. In the second section, the paper provides an overview of fard al-kifayah, noting how this legal principle calls for the society to collectively come to the aid of those least well-off. The final section offers a descriptive account of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Nairobi, Kenya where Muslim leaders are physically and theologically responding to those living with HIV/AIDS, and how this can be seen as motivated by the Islamic legal doctrine of fard al-kifayah.
As the field of study concerned with making ethical decisions in response to advances in biomedicine, Islamic theological bioethics deals with what should and should not be done in life as it is lived both physically and spiritually. On topics such as treatment, care, and cure, much has been written in Islam 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.
At its very foundation, theological bioethics from an Islamic perspective centers on issues of social justice within Muslim society, and how this justice is meant to be directed to all members of the society – particularly those least well-off. Justice, then, involves both biological and theological implications, as there is little differentiation between the spiritual and the physical life in Islam. Historically, theologians engaged in the study of bioethics have relied heavily on the foundational scriptures of Islam – the Qur’ān and hadith traditions of the Prophet Muhammad – as giving legitimacy as God’s final revelation to mankind. However, such an analysis of Islamic bioethics does not account for another different yet equally legitimate source of authority within Islam, that of Islamic jurisprudence (Arabic, uṣūl ul-fiqh). Muslims jurists and lawyers have long considered the impact of advances in healthcare and biomedicine within Islam, and elements of theological bioethics consequently must also be seen as operating in the domain of law.
Looking at the Islamic legal principle of fard al-kifayah or “collective responsibility,” this paper asserts that the community is responsible for providing a basic level of care and treatment for those most marginalized members. The social justice promoted by Islamic theological bioethics, therefore, must be the motivating principle for the entire community, particularly in societies where disease has reached an epidemic scale. For example, religious leaders in in Nairobi, Kenya have been dealing with the lived implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and fard al-kifayah in this case can be seen as operative in promoting an inclusive bioethical response informed by a commitment to social justice based in Islamic law.
The paper proceeds in the following way. It first considers textual accounts concerning healthcare and justice in hadith sources. In the second section, the paper provides an overview of fard al-kifayah, noting how this legal principle calls for the society to collectively come to the aid of those least well-off. The final section offers a descriptive account of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Nairobi, Kenya where Muslim leaders are physically and theologically responding to those living with HIV/AIDS, and how this can be seen as motivated by the Islamic legal doctrine of fard al-kifayah.