Medical Ethics: an Inclusice History
Medical Ethics: An Inclusive History
As long as there has been some form of medical treatment in the world, there has been someone who has voiced their ethical viewpoints on the treatment of patients. It is difficult to trace back the very first ethical thinking in medicine, but Islamic and Muslim traditions have left their footprints in Medical and Bioethics since before the medieval and early modern period. The first piece of literature ever dedicated to the field of medical ethics was written in the 9th Century by Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi and was titled Adab al-Tabib or Conduct of a Physician. Ali Rahawi reffered to physicians as guardians of the soul and body. One of the features in medieval Muslim medicine that separated their practices from their colleagues was their higher standards of medical ethics. Hospitals of the Islamic world made it their duty to treat patients regardless of their wealth, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. Even the Islamic hospitals employed staff from Christian, Jewish and other marginal backgrounds. After reading a portion of Conduct of a Physician I came across this passage which is in some way the Islamic for of the Hippocratic Oath (Howard, 1997).
“Scientists are accountable to God for their activities, they are required both to serve the community and to protect and promote its ethical and moral institutions. The way they use science, therefore, must reflect the values of the society they seek to serve. Thus, the Quranic approach to science is at once dynamic and static: it promotes reason, objectivity and the pursuit of truth and excellence, but at the same time, it places this endeavour firmly within the boundaries of Islamic ethics and values..” – Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi
Evident in this passage, it is easy to see the importance of the pursuit of knowledge in Islamic tradition. This is not to say that this knowledge is submissive to the Qur’an and its values. According to the Qur’an, those who possess knowledge
As long as there has been some form of medical treatment in the world, there has been someone who has voiced their ethical viewpoints on the treatment of patients. It is difficult to trace back the very first ethical thinking in medicine, but Islamic and Muslim traditions have left their footprints in Medical and Bioethics since before the medieval and early modern period. The first piece of literature ever dedicated to the field of medical ethics was written in the 9th Century by Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi and was titled Adab al-Tabib or Conduct of a Physician. Ali Rahawi reffered to physicians as guardians of the soul and body. One of the features in medieval Muslim medicine that separated their practices from their colleagues was their higher standards of medical ethics. Hospitals of the Islamic world made it their duty to treat patients regardless of their wealth, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. Even the Islamic hospitals employed staff from Christian, Jewish and other marginal backgrounds. After reading a portion of Conduct of a Physician I came across this passage which is in some way the Islamic for of the Hippocratic Oath (Howard, 1997).
“Scientists are accountable to God for their activities, they are required both to serve the community and to protect and promote its ethical and moral institutions. The way they use science, therefore, must reflect the values of the society they seek to serve. Thus, the Quranic approach to science is at once dynamic and static: it promotes reason, objectivity and the pursuit of truth and excellence, but at the same time, it places this endeavour firmly within the boundaries of Islamic ethics and values..” – Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi
Evident in this passage, it is easy to see the importance of the pursuit of knowledge in Islamic tradition. This is not to say that this knowledge is submissive to the Qur’an and its values. According to the Qur’an, those who possess knowledge
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