Main description:

Looking Beneath the Surface explores Arab-Islamic and Western perspectives on medical ethical issues: genetic research and treatment, abortion, organ donation, and palliative sedation and euthanasia. The contributions in this volume discuss the state of the (medical) art, the role of laws, counseling, and spiritual counseling in the decision-making process.
The different approaches to the ethical issues, ways of moral reasoning, become clear in these contributions, especially the role of tradition for Islam and the importance of autonomy for the West. Beneath the differences, however, the reader will also discover common values, such as the role of dignity and the value of life, and similar practices. Some of the main differences are sociocultural in nature, rather than religious as such.
Well-known experts in the fields of medicine and ethics have contributed to this volume from different religious and secular backgrounds. The book offers a carefully written introduction and final chapter on intercultural comparisons. Looking Beneath the Surface is more than a collection of writings on issues in medical ethics: it helps the reader to compare different paradigms of accountability and moral reasoning.

Contents:

Preface
Introduction: Looking Beneath the Surface: Commonalities and Differences between Islamic and Western Perspectives in Medical Ethics
Marzouk Aulad Abdellah: The Sources of Islamic Ethics and Fiqh
Martina C. Cornel: Genetic Medicine: Facts and Moral Issues from a Western Perspective
Ahmed Ragaa A. Ragab and Gamal Serour: Can Facts about Genetic Research Play a Role in Moral Reasoning? Muslim Perspectives
Pascal Borry, Marieke Teeuw, and Martina C. Cornel: Genetic Testing and Counseling in the Case of Consanguinity: Facts, Ethical and Legal Consequences
Oka Storms and Edien Bartels: "Notre huile est dans notre farine": An Exploration into the Meaning of Consanguinity in Northern Morocco against the Backdrop of the Medical Risk of Disabled Offspring
Ayman M. Nassar, Serag El Din Mansour, and Gamal I. Serour: The Treatment of Embryos from an Islamic Perspective
Egbert Schroten: The Moral Status of the Human Embryo: Christian Perspectives and the Impact of New Technologies
Leo P. ten Kate: Reflections on Termination of Pregnancy for Genetic or Nongenetic Congenital Disorders
Guido de Wert: Treatment of the Embryo: Facts and Moral Questions
Moustafa H. Hegab: Abortion: Medical and Moral Aspects in Islamic Perspectives
Ahmed Ragai El-Gindi: Human Organ Transplantation
K. Schipper, M. Ghaly, and T.A. Abma: Receiving a Donor Organ and Muslims in Europe: Theological and Intercultural Dimensions
Theo A. Boer: Palliative Sedation: An Exploration from a Christian Ethical Point of View
Arslan Karagul: Islamic Care Ethics between Law and Conscience
Mostafa Salem: The Islamic Legal System vis-a-vis Euthanasia and Organ Transplantation
Arend Soeteman: The Right to Moral Independence and its Meaning for Medical Issues
Petra Verdonk and Hendrik M. Vroom: Observations and Comparisons
Index of Subjects
Index of Names
Contributors