Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine
Volume:1 Issue: 1, 2008

No doubt life in its all forms enjoys a very high status in Islam. Human life is one of the most sacred creatures of God. Therefore, it must be appreciated, respected and protected. In this regard, the paper refers to different parts. The first part studies the value of life in Islam. It helps to understand why life must be appreciated and respected. The second part sheds some light on the nature of the Islamic bioethics. Discussing the sources and authorities in the Islamic bioethics, in this part we will study the way of life protection which is regulated by the Islamic law and bioethics. Part three reflects on some important issues in bioethics from an Islamic perspective. Concerning the Islamic believes, physical health maintenance and disease treatment are two important aspects of the Islamic teachings. In respect to the beginning of human life; firstly, we will see that reproduction must occur in the context of a legitimate and stable family. Secondly, we will study family planning and abortion. With respect to the end of life, issues such as suicide and euthanasia will be studied. Finally organ transplantation will be discussed.

Emotional status and its brain bases change in a chronic pain patient and this change affects his/her decision making ability. Moreover, it is accepted that a mentally disturbed individual is not competent to make critical decisions. According to these bases, this article demonstrates that such patients are not entitled to request voluntary euthanasia.

The topos of the Compassionate God is a dominant motive of the Jewish and Christian traditions. It is relevant for nursing because it asks the nurse to imitate God so as to become God-like. Also, to think that God suffers with the suffering believers is thought to give comfort to them. Because in the western world the topos of the Compassionate God represents the basis of the ethics of compassion/caring, this piece of basic research is important for clinical practice. This study explores to what extent Jewish and Christian nursing adhered to the biblical topos of the Compassionate God at different periods and in different cultural contexts. A mixed methods approach was used. It included variations of hermeneutical text analysis as used in historical, philosophical, theological, science of religion, and nursing research. The analysis of the literary sources shows that the topos of the Compassionate God was interpreted differently in different cultural contexts. However, at all times it directed religious and secular nursing. Since the beginning of the 21st century it builds the core of "compassionate caring" as propagated by North American nursing science. The topos of the Compassionate God laid the foundation of the tradition of the ethics of compassion in nursing. More research is required to learn whether it also plays a role in Islamic nursing.