Issues at the Beginning of Life: Islamic Perspectives on Prenatal Diagnosis and Termination of Pregnancy

Today, medical advancements have raised several dilemmas at the beginning of life. The Western examination of moral approaches to issues at the beginning of life is mainly secular/Christian, whereas Islamic positions are less visible and comparatively understudied. To date, hardly any attention is paid to Islamic ethical frameworks discussing Prenatal Diagnosis (PND) and Termination of Pregnancy (ToP). This project is meant to fill in glaring gaps in modern scholarship by investigating the ethical challenges at the beginning of life through approaches and tools rooted in the Islamic tradition. The aim of this project is fourfold. First, it seeks to conduct content analysis of the normative Islamic standpoints towards issues at the beginning of life. Second, it aims to describe and analyse Islamic methodologies used to assess biomedical issues at the beginning of life, including PND and ToP. Third, it seeks to elicit the views of Muslim professionals in Belgium about ethical decision-making on PND and ToP. Fourth, it aims to develop an Islamic ethical view on issues at the beginning of life, taking into account Islamic worldviews and Western pluralistic society.