Event note: “Islamic images of human creation”
10. June 2013
Nils Fischer “Islamic images of human creation: Consquences for current questions in society and medicine” on 23rd September 2013
Topics: The human creation is a central theme in the Quran. It does not only discuss the creation of Adam by God, but also the creation of every human being and its prenatal development. On this basis and taking into account other religious, medical and philosophical sources Islamic medieval scholars have developed an “Islamic embryology”. It was used by Islamic scholars to decide whether abortion and contraception are allowed or prohibited by Islamic law. Although the medieval assumptions about human prenatal development are outdated and replaced by modern scientific findings, the ancient texts are still of great importance for contemporary Muslims. This is reflected in the statements of Islamic scholars on various issues of reproductive medicine (e. g., in-vitro-fertilization and embryo research).
Place: Richard-Henkes-Saal, Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Vallendar
Time: 5.00–8.00 p. m.
Organiser: Institut für interkulturelle und interreligiöse Begegnung (IIIB), Institut für wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung (IWW), Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Vallendar (PTHV). Link (extern)
Hot off the press: Muslim Patients in German Hospitals
19. December 2012
Fischer, Nils: “Muslimische Patienten im Krankenhaus.” Spectrum 24 (2012) 3: 50–51.
Summary: Specific issues arise in German hospitals in regard to the treatment of Muslim patients, for example how they can practice their religion and how religious peculiarities can be taken into account in hospitals. While the patient expects medical treatment and healing and entrusts himself in a far-reaching dependence on the doctors and the medical practitioners, they on their side need knowledge and understanding of the needs of Muslim patients, readiness for a certain organizational flexibility and particularly communication skills. These qualities are often grouped under the terms “cultural sensitivity” and “intercultural communication” and are a necessary condition for successful medical treatment healthcare professionals. HTML Link to the journal (external)
7. September 2012
Prenatal human life
The clarification of the moral and legal status of prenatal human life is necessary to answer some fundamental bioethical questions, such as whether abortion should be allowed, and whether research should be conducted using human embryos. The issues related to these questions are hotly debated in the Islamic societies. The debate resorts to the religious sources of Islam (the Koran and the Prophetic Tradition) and the classical positions of the scholars of the classical Islamic schools of law but also on the positions of contemporary Islamic scholars. While the classic texts have to read in the light of ancient and medieval natural philosophy and its theories of reproduction and prenatal development, contemporary texts are influenced by the findings of modern medicine and life sciences. The attempt to bring these two traditions together results in different solutions.
Publication
Fischer, Nils: Islamische Positionen zum pränatalen Leben. Freiburg, München: Alber, 2012 (Ethik in den Biowissenschaften – Sachstandsberichte des DRZE, 14).
