Islamic ethical teachings on bioethics: HSC Studies of Religion

What this dot point is asking

In the Islam depth study the syllabus asks you to describe and explain Islamic ethical teachings in ONE area: bioethics, environmental ethics or sexual ethics. This page covers bioethics: the ethics of medicine and the life sciences, at the beginning of life (contraception, IVF, abortion, embryo research), during life (treatment, organ donation) and at its end (euthanasia, life support). (For sexual ethics see Islamic sexual ethics.)

Recent questions need a few named teachings, each with precise sources (surah and verse, hadith collection and number), applied to specific issues, plus awareness of how Muslim scholars differ: 2023 (apply ONE teaching to encourage adherents to "do good", with Qur'an 4:36 as stimulus), 2024 (outline ONE teaching, then explain how it is reflected in your area), and 2025 (explain TWO teachings, and a 20-mark response on how the ethical teachings of Islam guide adherents "to navigate the world today").

The answer

Where Islamic bioethical teaching comes from

Islamic ethics is part of the Shari'ah, the path of God's guidance, which covers worship, personal conduct and social life. Because the Qur'an and hadith do not mention IVF or ventilators, Muslim scholars apply the sources to new questions.

• The Qur'an. The word of Allah revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, the first source.
• The Sunnah. The example and teaching of the Prophet, recorded in the hadith collections (for Sunnis, especially Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim).
• Ijma. The consensus of qualified scholars.
• Qiyas. Analogical reasoning from an established ruling to a new case.
• Ijtihad and fatwas. Qualified scholars exercise independent reasoning and issue fatwas (legal opinions). On bioethics, collective fatwas carry particular weight, especially those of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Islamic Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League. In Australia, bodies such as the Australian National Imams Council give guidance to local Muslims.

Rulings are graded (obligatory, recommended, permitted, disliked, forbidden), and Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) and Shi'a jurists can reach different conclusions. That diversity is normal and worth mentioning.

Core ethical teachings

1. Life is a trust (amanah) from Allah

Human life and the body belong to Allah, who "created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed" (Qur'an 67:2). Humans are trustees, not owners, of their bodies. This grounds duties to care for health and the prohibition on harming or ending life by choice.

2. The sanctity of life

"Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely" (Qur'an 5:32). "And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right" (17:33). "And do not kill yourselves [or one another]" (4:29). "And do not kill your children for fear of poverty" (17:31).

3. The duty to seek treatment

The Prophet said: "Make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one disease, namely old age" (Sunan Abi Dawud 3855). Medicine is not a lack of trust in God but a way of honouring His gift; Islamic civilisation produced great physicians such as Ibn Sina, whose Canon of Medicine was studied for centuries.

4. The objectives of the Shari'ah (maqasid al-Shari'ah)

Classical scholars such as al-Ghazali identified five goods the law protects: religion, life, intellect, lineage and property. Bioethical rulings ask which of these is at stake. Preservation of life supports treatment and organ donation; preservation of lineage (hifz al-nasl) shapes the rules on reproduction.

5. Necessity and the lesser harm

Qur'an 2:173 permits forbidden food to one "forced by necessity, neither desiring it nor transgressing its limit". From this, jurists derive that necessity (darura) makes the forbidden permissible, and that where harms cannot be avoided, the lesser harm is chosen. Necessity is limited to what is needed and never justifies killing an innocent person.

6. Patience and compassion

Suffering is a test to be met with patience (sabr): "give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return'" (Qur'an 2:155 to 156). Caring for the sick is a righteous deed.

Applying the teachings

The beginning of life: ensoulment

The Qur'an describes human development in stages, from a drop to a clinging clot to a lump of flesh, then bones clothed with flesh, "then We developed him into another creation" (Qur'an 23:12 to 14). A hadith of Ibn Mas'ud describes three stages of forty days each, after which an angel is sent and "the soul is breathed into him" (Sahih al-Bukhari 3208). Many jurists therefore place ensoulment at about 120 days, which affects rulings on abortion and embryos. Some scholars read other hadith as indicating an earlier point, one reason views differ.

Contraception

Most scholars permit temporary contraception within marriage by mutual consent, by analogy with the practice of 'azl (withdrawal) known among the Companions. Permanent sterilisation is generally not permitted unless there is a medical necessity. Methods that end a pregnancy after conception fall under the rules on abortion.

IVF and assisted reproduction

Infertility may be treated, since seeking treatment is encouraged. But preservation of lineage means a child should be conceived from husband and wife. Mainstream Sunni fatwas therefore permit IVF only:

• with the husband's sperm and the wife's egg,
• during a valid, continuing marriage (not after divorce or the husband's death),
• with the embryo placed in the wife's womb.

Donor sperm, donor eggs, donor embryos and surrogacy are prohibited because they confuse lineage and bring a third party into the marriage. Some senior Shi'a jurists in Iran have permitted third-party egg donation under conditions, a clear example of diversity within Islam.

Abortion

• After ensoulment (about 120 days), abortion is forbidden, except, for most scholars, where continuing the pregnancy threatens the mother's life, since her established life takes precedence and the lesser harm is chosen.
• Before ensoulment, schools differ. Many Hanafi scholars permit abortion for a valid reason; many Maliki scholars prohibit it from conception; Shafi'i and Hanbali views vary, some permitting it only within the first forty days. Some fatwa councils have permitted early abortion for severe foetal abnormality confirmed by doctors.
• Abortion because of fear of poverty is condemned (17:31). All schools treat the embryo with respect from conception.

Embryo and stem-cell research

Because many scholars hold that an early embryo is not yet ensouled, research on surplus IVF embryos donated with the couple's consent has been permitted by the Islamic Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League, which prohibits deliberately creating embryos for research. Research using adult stem cells and umbilical cord blood is widely accepted. Reproductive human cloning has been prohibited by Islamic fiqh councils as a threat to lineage and human dignity.

Organ donation and transplantation

Many scholars and fatwa councils permit organ donation, from living donors (where the donor is not seriously harmed) and after death, as an act of saving life (5:32) and charity, provided there is consent, no sale of organs, and respect for the body. Many councils, including the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, have accepted brain-stem death as death for this purpose. A minority of scholars oppose donation, citing the sanctity of the body after death, so Muslims in Australia are encouraged to discuss the decision with family and a scholar.

The end of life

• Euthanasia and assisted suicide are forbidden. Only Allah decides the moment of death (67:2); "do not kill yourselves" (4:29). Voluntary assisted dying laws now exist in every Australian state, but mainstream Islamic teaching does not permit Muslims to use them.
• Withdrawing futile treatment is different. Most scholars permit withholding or withdrawing treatment that is futile and only prolongs dying, so that death comes naturally, while basic care, comfort and dignity continue. Palliative care that relieves pain is encouraged, even if it may incidentally shorten life, because the intention (niyyah) is relief, not death.
• Care for the dying includes reciting the shahada with the dying person and turning them toward the qibla, linking bioethics to the funeral practices of Islam.

Why Muslims can reach different conclusions

A strong answer shows that the principles are shared (sanctity of life, lineage, seeking treatment, necessity) while their application develops through ijtihad.

In one sentence

Islamic bioethics applies the Qur'an and Sunnah, through ijtihad and fatwa councils, to modern medicine: life is a sacred trust from Allah to be preserved and treated but never ended by choice, lineage must be protected, and necessity may permit the normally forbidden to save life, producing firm shared principles and a recognised diversity of rulings on issues such as abortion, IVF and organ donation.

Try this

Q1. Outline ONE Islamic ethical teaching relevant to bioethics. (2 marks)

• What the marker wants. A named teaching with a source, for example the sanctity of life (Qur'an 5:32).

Q2. Explain Islamic teaching on IVF. (4 marks)

• What the marker wants. Permission within marriage, the prohibition of third-party involvement, the reason (lineage), and a note on Shi'a diversity.

Q3. Analyse how Islamic ethical teachings guide Muslims at the end of life. (8 marks)

• What the marker wants. Sanctity of life and amanah with sources, the prohibition of euthanasia, the permission to withdraw futile treatment, palliative care and intention, and how Muslims in Australia navigate voluntary assisted dying laws.