Stem cell research is a newly emerging technology that promises a wide variety of benefits for humanity. It has, however, also caused much ethical, legal, and theological debate. While some forms of its application were prohibited in the beginning, they have now started to be used in many countries. This fact obliges us to discuss the regulation of stem cell research at national and international level. It is obvious that in order to make regulations and to draw up legislation at (...) national or international levels it helps to know the perspectives of different cultures and faith traditions. In this article the issue is explored from an Islamic perspective. Firstly, some basic information is given about Islam to explain how laws are drawn up and regulations made in this tradition. Secondly, the principles on which the laws and regulations are based are applied to stem cell research, and finally the permitted and prohibited methods of stem cell research are described. The discussions throughout the paper demonstrate that while some ethicists argue that stem cell research is unethical in the Islamic tradition, tradition permits it as long as such research is aimed at improving human health. (shrink)

This response to “A rational cure for pre-reproductive stress syndrome” first suggests it is existence that is essential and prerequisite to everything good or bad, therefore it deserves to be protected and respected. Secondly, it argues that every life is worth living, even if it is worse than some other lives, if the only alternative is non-existence. Finally, it takes a critical view of and challenges Häyry’s suggestion that in a good clinical situation, the idea of the irrationality of having (...) children could be a legitimate part of the guidance given, since it is not the counsellor’s or doctor’s duty to advise a couple who wish to have children that it is irrational or even immoral to bring a child into life. (shrink)

Concepts, such as death, life and spirit cannot be known in their quintessential nature, but can be defined in accordance with their effects. In fact, those who think within the mode of pragmatism and Cartesian logic have ignored the metaphysical aspects of these terms. According to Islam, the entity that moves the body is named the soul. And the aliment of the soul is air. Cessation of breathing means leaving of the soul from the body. Those who agree on the (...) diagnosis of brain death may not able to agree unanimously on the rules that lay down such diagnosis. That is to say, there are a heap of suspicions regarding the diagnosis of brain death, and these suspicions are on the increase. In fact, Islamic jurisprudence does not put provisions, decisions on suspicious grounds. By virtue of these facts, it can be asserted that brain death is not absolute death according to Islamic sources; for in the patients diagnosed with brain death the soul still has not abandoned the body. Therefore, these patients suffer in every operation performed on them. (shrink)

Estimating the effect of a randomized treatment and the effect that is transmitted through a mediator is often complicated by treatment noncompliance. In literature, an instrumental variable (IV)-based method has been developed to study causal mediation effects in the presence of treatment noncompliance. Existing studies based on the IV-based method focus on identifying the mediated portion of the intention-to-treat effect, which relies on several identification assumptions. However, little attention has been given to assessing the sensitivity of the identification assumptions or (...) mitigating the impact of violating these assumptions. This study proposes a two-stage joint modeling method for conducting causal mediation analysis in the presence of treatment noncompliance, in which modeling assumptions can be employed to decrease the sensitivity to violation of some identification assumptions. The use of a joint modeling method is also conducive to conducting sensitivity analyses to the violation of identification assumptions. We demonstrate our approach using the Jobs II data, in which the effect of job training on job seekers’ mental health is examined. (shrink)

Our world is faced with complex challenges that include poverty, hunger, lack of education, gender inequality, sustainability, and climate change. These issues cannot be addressed by government action alone and requires the business world play an important role. Despite the many effort of companies to address social responsibility in the last decade however, capitalism continues to suffer a crisis of trust. Many organizations lack the awareness, mindset, frameworks, and knowledge to efficiently and effectively make progress in providing solutions to these (...) systemic challenges, while also ensuring business performance. The authors argue that business schools are uniquely positioned and have a responsibility to contribute to this cause as educators of the business leaders of tomorrow. A landscape survey of social entrepreneurship / social innovation education with 66 institutions of higher education and in-depth interviews with 8 social intrapreneurs from diverse career tracks reveals significant challenges as well as opportunities for creating this paradigm shift in business schools. This research uses insights from these two studies to provide an overview of the current state of SE/SI in business education and provides recommendations for institutions of higher education to pave a pathway forward for future leaders who will use business to create positive social change. (shrink)

The history of the Qurʾānic text begins with the time of its revelation. The research on Qurʾānic manuscripts is one of the main fields of textual studies of the Qurʾān. There have been many works done by both Muslim and Western scholars. Many museums and libraries around the world hold Qurʾān manuscripts. Each manuscript has its own characteristics such as orthography, calligraphy, decoration, and binding, number of the pages and the lines, and dating. This article deals with 110 Qurʾān manuscripts (...) found in the Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostalica Vaticana) at the Vaticani arabi, Borgiani arabi,Barberiniani orientaliand RossianiCollections. The dates of these Qurʾān manuscripts vary from I/VII(?) and XIII/XIX centuries. The article aims to identify the features of Qurʾānic writing by studying chronologically some basic physical-content descriptions and characteristics of these manuscripts. It also examines the different names of the sūrahs and the knowledge on Meccan or Medinan sūrahs presented on the sūrah headings of manuscripts. Summary: Each Qurʾān manuscript has its own characteristics. These features present significant insights into the field of history of Qurʾānic text. A manuscript becomes a source for the history of writing muṣḥafin terms of physical and content features such as calligraphy, ink colors, binding, and explanations found in katabapage, the sūrah headings which contain the names of sūrahs, Meccan-Medinan knowledge, the numbers of āyahs, and the signs for juzʾ, ʿashr, and ḥizb. The research on the names of sūrahs, Meccan-Medinan knowledge, and the number of āyahs contributes to the ʿulūm al-Qurʾānstudies as well. This article examines 110 Qurʾān manuscripts located in the Vatican Library in the Vaticani arabi(73 MSS), Borgiani arabi (25 MSS),Barberiniani orientali(11 MSS), and Rossiani(2 MSS) Collections. Each manuscript is individually studied. However, due to the limitation of the article, I include only some basic and significant physical and content features of these manuscripts. The catalogues prepared by Giorgio Levi della Vida (1886-1967) and Carlo Alberto Anzuini are consulted for this study. I also study the sūrah headings in Qurʾān manuscripts which contain the names of sūrahs and Meccan-Medinan knowledge. The most used calligraphy types of these manuscripts coming from different geographies are maghribī(19 MSS) and nasikh-Ottoman (66 MSS). The basic features of maghribīMSS as follows: The text is written dark brown, vowel signs in dark red, shaddaand jazmin blue, and hamzain orange ink (VI-VII/XII-XIII centuries). The āyah endings are in circle form and decorated (VI-VII/XII-XIII centuries). The same characteristics can be seen in the next centuries (VIII/XIV and IX/XV centuries). The word sajdais written in the same line with the sajdaayah in Borg. Ar. 51 (VI-VII/XII-XIII centuries). The main characteristics of nasikh-Ottoman MSS as follows: Vat. Ar. 195 (IX/XV century) includes the āyah endings in two different figures: Three dots in triangle-shaped in red ink or in inverse comma-formed. The numbers of the āyahs are not written in this manuscript. On the other hand, the earlier features of the present muṣḥafs found in this manuscript as follows: Waqfsigns are in red ink; the word sajdais written in the same line with the sajdaāyah in black ink. The word ḥizbis in the margin of the pages. The sūrah headings hold the name of the sūrah, Meccan-Medinan knowledge, and the numbers of āyahs. The taʿqībaword is at the end of the pages. Among these manuscripts, Barb. Or. 72 (X/XVI century) contains, for the first time, the prayer text after the reading the whole Qurʾān (khatm) at the end of the muṣḥaf. This manuscript has different explanations for the Meccan and Medinan knowledge. It uses “ نزلت بمكة ” for “ مكية ”, and “ نزلت بالمدينة ” for “ مدنية ”. The figures of juzʾare written in numerical form in Borg. Ar. 184 (XI/XVII century). The divisions such as “ ربع حزب, نصف حزب ” can be seen in the manuscripts in XII/XVIIIcenturies. The names of the sūrah in the sūrah headings can be different from their widely-known names. The 39 sūrahs have different names among the manuscripts examined in this article. The names of sūrahs which cannot be found in the relevant classical source as follows: al-Khalīlfor Sūrah Ibrāhīm; al-kharīrfor Sūrah al-Sajda; al-sayyāḥūnfor Sūrah Sabaʾ;jādalafor Sūrah Mucādala; al-ʿishārfor Sūrah al-Takwīr;wa’l-layli idhāyaghshāfor Sūrah al-Shams;lumazafor Sūrah al-Humaza; miskīnfor Sūrah al-Māʿūn;asrāfor Sūrah al-Isrāʾ;al-maqābirand al-qabrfor Sūrah al-Takāthur; salāsilāfor Sūrah al-Insān; al-abrārfor Sūrah al-Muṭaffifīn. The sūrah headings indicate the knowledge of Meccan-Medinan classification of the sūrahs. Each manuscript does not have this feature. However, the manuscripts have this feature may not include this knowledge for each sūrah headings. The disagreements about the Meccan or Medinan sūrahs in theʿulūm al-Qurʾānliterature can be seen in the manuscripts studied in this article. The manuscripts which have this knowledge present that the 47 sūrahs recorded only as Meccan, but the remaining ones both Meccan and Medinan. These manuscripts do not record a sūrah only as Medinan. There are manuscripts which present more detailed knowledge on Meccan-Medinan. Vat. Ar. 1484 (IX/XV century) mentions not only whether a sūrah is Meccan or Medinan but also the exceptional verses if the sūrah has. For instance, the heading of Sūrah al-Anʿām reads that: “ سورة الانعام نزلت جملة واحدة بمكة الا ثلث ايات انزلت بالمدينة قوله قل تعالوا أتل ما حرم ربكم عليكم لعلكم تتقون ”. Among the sūrah headings which have this feature are al-Naḥl, al-Ḥajj, al-Shuʿarāʾ, Luqmān, al-Sajda, and al-Zumar. Vat. Ar. 1588 mentions only the numbers of exceptional verses. For example, the heading of Sūrah al-Isrāʾsays that “ مكية و قيل مدنية غير ثلث ايات ”. Vat. Ar. 1597 contains details about the numbers of ayahs, words, and letters in the sūrah headings. For instance, for Sūrah al-Nisāʾ, it reads that “ اياتها ق ع اختلافها ب كلماتهاغج ذ م ه حروفها غيول ”. The Arabic letters in this explanation has a numerical value (abjad). According to this the number of āyahs is 170, the number of debated ones in merging with the previous and next verses is 2, the number of words 3.745, and the number of letters is 16.030. There are corrections on the pages of the manuscripts. These corrections may be done through the writing process or during the check reading (muqabala) at the end of the writing. The writing of the text by heart and by looking to the other copy, and the similarities may cause these kinds of errors for the scribe. Studying on Qurʾān manuscripts reveals the different features of the writing of a muṣḥaf. Even though the numbers of the graduate studies gradually increase in Turkey, there is no a PhD dissertation which analyzes a Qurʾān manuscript, and only one M.A. thesis has been recently completed. Therefore, establishing graduate courses on Qurʾān manuscripts in the field of Islamic studies will strengthen the Qurʾānic and tafsīrstudies. (shrink)

Immanuel Kant proclaims that the ‘transcendental logic’, the form of logic that he uniquely offers, aims at laying out the necessary laws and principles of nature on the basis of the synthesis of the a priori concepts of understanding and the a priori elements of intuition. In this regard, logic, in Kantian sense, is directed towards the knowledge of the nature which he identifies as the phenomenal world (appearances). The noumenal world (transcendental concepts of God, immortality and freedom), on the (...) other hand, is acclaimed to extend beyond the boundaries of logic. Likewise, Ludwig Wittgenstein points to the boundaries of logic. In his view, logic is limited to the states of affairs in the world (the whole reality). In other words, Wittgenstein argues that one can logically think and talk about merely the facts in the world. The transcendental concepts like logical form, philosophy, aesthetic and ethics, on the other hand, are offered to be beyond the boundaries of logicality. Hence, my aim in this study will be to embark on the boundaries and the legitimate use of logic in Kant and Wittgenstein in parallel to each other. (shrink)

Chronic organ diseases and the increasing demand for organ transplantation have become an important health care problem within the last few decades. Campaigns and regulations to encourage people to donate organs after their death have not met much success. This article discusses the subject from an Islamic perspective. It begins with some basic information on how Muslims reach legal rulings on a particular issue, and goes on to debate contemporary thinking among Islamic scholars on the ethical‐legal issues of organ donation (...) and organ transplantation.It is shown that there are two groups of scholars, one allowing organ donation and organ transplantation, the other refusing it in any circumstances. Both groups agree that it is fundamentally wrong to harvest organs from cadavers without the prior permission of the deceased or the relatives. This dogma is re‐examined, and it is argued that, under the rule of necessity and the imperative to preserve life, there is enough moral and theological ground to allow the state to harvest organs from the deceased without prior permission. (shrink)

Euthanasia is a popular subject that health care professionals, lawyers and theologians has dealt with for a long time. While it was an extreme and exceptional case to support and argue in favour of euthanasia among health care professionals and lay public, it becomes more and more common to see supporters of this act especially among health care professionals.In this article euthanasia is examined from different perspectives, and tried to draw a conclusion that may be helpful to clarify our thinking (...) on this issue. Throughout the article, the concept of ‘ownership’ and the popular bioethical principal ‘right to autonomy’ are also explored. It is mainly concluded that since the euthanasia is the termination of a human life, and violates the internal morality of medicine, it cannot be considered as a part of ‘good-doctoring’ before it is questioned and debated very closely by the concerned public, as well as health care professionals, lawyers, theologians and politicians. (shrink)

Background There have been different ethical approaches to the issues in the history of philosophy. Two American philosophers Beachump and Childress formulated some ethical principles namely 'respect to autonomy', 'justice', 'beneficence' and 'non-maleficence'. These 'Four Principles' were presented by the authors as universal and applicable to any culture and society. Mawlana, a great figure in Sufi tradition, had written many books which not only guide people how to worship God to be close to Him, but also advise people how to (...) lead a good life to enrich their personality, as well as to create a harmonious society and a peaceful world. Methods In this study we examined the major works of Mawlana to find out which of these 'Four Principles of Bioethics' exist in Mawlana's ethical understanding. Results We have found in our study that all these principles exist in Mawlana's writings and philosophy in one form or another. Conclusions We have concluded that, further to Beachump and Childress' claim that these principles are universal and applicable to any culture and society, these principles have always existed in different moral traditions in different ways, of which Mawlana's teaching might be presented as a good example. (shrink)

Background: Compassion-based practices in midwifery are the most important expression of the depth of care quality. This concept is insufficiently represented in literature, therefore, studies on this subject are of utmost importance. Objectives: This study aims to determine the levels of compassion of midwives working in the delivery room and the factors affecting these levels. The study was carried out in Kocaeli, Turkey. Methods: This descriptive study was carried out from 1 February to 15 April 2019 in delivery rooms of (...) six different hospitals located in the provincial centre of Kocaeli, Turkey, with 78 actively working midwives. Data were collected using a ‘Compassion Scale’ and analysed using the Mann–Whitney U test, the Kruskal–Wallis H test and the Spearman correlation test. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted according to ethical scientific guidelines. Results: The compassion score of the midwives were found to be 4.19 ± 0.39. The total compassion score was affected by professional factors such as number of patients, alternating shift work, number of traumatic births and work satisfaction. While the kindness subscores decreased depending on shift work and number of traumatic births, it was determined that the midwives who were satisfied with their work had higher kindness scores than those who were not. Also, as the age and professional experience of the midwives and the number of traumatic births increased, their indifference score also increased. Midwives who reported that they were not satisfied with their job had higher scores regarding separation and disengagement scores than those who were satisfied with their job. Conclusion: It was determined that the compassion levels of midwives were found to be negatively affected by factors such as age, professional experience, job satisfaction and number of monthly traumatic births in a month. They should be reminded that compassionate midwifery care for women is a basic human right. (shrink)

In the period that began with the death of the Prophet Hz Muhammad, the martyrdom of Hz. Othmān and the Battles of Camel and Siffin which took place during the caliphate of Hz. Ali, caused Muslims to have confronted each other. The debates that started after these incidents had been carried out within the frame of killing a Muslim in particular and the issue of predestionation in general. The personal opinions that emerged in the first period became the doctrines of (...) the parties/sects over time. These parties/sects have criticized each other on this subject as well as all other subjects and they have written refutations to one another. This deep-rooted and complicated issue has been handled in the Ottoman period in both Arabic and Turkish works as either a chapter or a separate risālah (epistles). Khalil Shukru’s risālah on qaḍā and qadar is one of those risālahs that we have discussed in this article. In his separately written risālah, he tried to refuse the opinions of some parties regarding qaḍā, and qadar by explaining his own opinions with examples. This study is based on Khalil Shukru Afandī's risālah qaḍā and qadar. A brief information about the author's life and scientific personality was given based on archive documents and then the epistle was analyzed. The author has handled the subject in a unique way, interpreting the situations ordained by Allah and human acts as a separate qadar. Khalil Shukru Afandī examines human acts in two different groups as acquisition (kasb) and creation (khalq), qaḍā and makzī, and analyzes the actions in terms of agency. Khalil Shukru Afandī did not use any subtitles in his risālah. However, in the analysis of the treatise, sub-headings have been included in the relevant places in order to make the subject easier to understand by us. The epistle tackles the issues qaḍā and qadar, God’s action and human acts, responses to the Jabriyya and Muètazilite. The author offers his views on the issues of hidāyat (guidance) and misguidance, justice, and cruelty, which is discussed under the heading of qadar and makes interesting points about human accountability for their actions. Khalil Shukru Afandī argues that human will (irādah) and accountability are separate things, which are independent of one another. In other words, according to Khalil Shukru Afandī, who stated that there will be no belief or disbelief because it is an offer, the offer has no binding on human will (irādah) or choices at this point. Accordingly, it can be said that Khalil Shukru Afandī was in close agreement with the views of Abū Mansur Māturīdī regarding human will (irādah). (shrink)

In recent decades antenatal screening has become one of the most routine procedure of pregnancy-follow up and the subject of hot debate in bioethics circles. In this paper the rationale behind doing antenatal screening and the actual and potential problems that it may cause will be discussed. The paper will examine the issue from the point of wiew of parents, health care professionals and, most importantly, the child-to-be. It will show how unthoughtfully antenatal screening is performed and how pregnancy is (...) treated almost as a disease just since the emergence of antenatal screening. Genetic screening and ethical problems caused by the procedure will also be addressed and I will suggest that screening is more to do with the interests of others rather than those of the child-to be. (shrink)

Questionnaire data from a cross-sectional study on social resilience in adolescence, with a sample of N = 1,974 Swiss seventh grade high school students ages 12–14 was used to identify and compare violence resilience profiles. Person-centered latent profile analysis was applied and allowed for the grouping of adolescents into profiles of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and differentiation of adolescents with and without physical parental violence experiences. Subsequently, a multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to further investigate the sociodemographic predictors of (...) violence resilience profiles. With LPA, we identified four distinct profiles for both adolescent groups. The results showed three particularly burdened profiles of adolescents, one with higher externalizing and one with higher internalizing symptoms, which did not occur simultaneously to the same extent. Furthermore, the third profile contained adolescents with both elevated internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the comorbid profile. The fourth profile consisted of the majority of adolescents, who exhibited little or no internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the so-called no/low symptomatic profile. A differentiated view of the symptoms can create added value regarding the understanding of violence resilience. Moreover, in the multinomial logistic regression, significant associations were found between the profiles and adolescents’ gender in the group of adolescents with parental physical violence experiences, but none were found in relation to sociocultural status and migration background. (shrink)