The Role of Traditional Scholarship in Modern Times
The 11th Annual CIR Conference at Yale
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Abstract Submission Deadline has Passed.
Final Paper Submission Deadline: March 1st, 2012*
The Critical Islamic Reflections (CIR) Committee at Yale invites scholars and professionals from all fields to submit proposals for our 11th annual conference, "Islamic Bioethics and Law: The Role of Traditional Scholarship in Modern Times." This interdisciplinary forum will explore the role of the Islamic tradition in the resolution of modern day bioethical dilemmas while also investigating the methodologies used by ethicists, healthcare practitioners, policy makers, and religious scholars to address ethical dilemmas pertaining to public health, biomedicine, and healthcare in general.
Description and Aim of the Conference:
Muslim health care consumers and providers, both those in Muslim majority countries as well as Muslim minority communities, are not immune to the global forces that continuously reshape modern bioethical dilemmas. While many Muslims seek to live according to standards set by the Qur’an and Prophetic Sunnah, medically related advise and rulings provided by Islamic scholars, jurists, health care providers, policy makers, and ethicists can at times be overwhelming and even contradictory.
The purpose of this conference is to explore the underlying principles that guide bioethical decision-making within the context of greater Islamic ethical thought and jurisprudence. Presentations will critically examine the respective roles of secular/biomedical specialists and traditional Islamic scholars in the resolution of bioethical issues, models of approaching Islamic bioethics, and recent Islamic legal rulings (fatawa) with respect to biomedicine.
We welcome papers from across disciplines, especially medical anthropology, health economics, Islamic studies, health law, and public policy. Examples of areas of ethical inquiry include but are not not limited to:
- Historically, and currently, how do Islamic religious traditions influence healthcare policy decisions amongst Muslim populations?
- How are the competing authorities (biomedical, legal, religious, etc.) negotiated when seeking solutions to bioethical dilemmas? How should they be negotiated?
- How do public health ethics and duty to the public good inform bioethically related legal rulings (fatawa)? For example, are there instances when vaccinations, birth control, infectious disease precautions become religiously obligatory?
- How should the legal device of public interest (maslaha) be invoked or constrained in Islamic bioethical discourse? Is consulting a “secular” or technical expert necessary to invoke public interest (maslaha) as part of a ruling?
- What are the obligations of Muslims to seek medical treatment?
- How do Islamic ethics inform the clinical encounter?
- What are the legal rights and responsibilities of the severely mentally ill? According to Islamic law (shari’ah), when are people not culpable for unethical or criminal behavior?
The Abstract submission deadline for CIR 2012 has passed. The final paper submission deadline for accepted abstracts is March 1st, 2012. Further questions can be directed Shihan.Khan@yale.edu.
*Selected papers will be invited to publish in a thematic issue on Islam & Bioethics in the Journal of Islamic Law & Culture. Published by Routledge - Taylor & Francis, the journal is a peer reviewed, interdisciplinary, law review journal focused on the interface between the Islamic tradition, policy, culture, ethics, and global politics. For more information about the journal please visit: www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rilc.
