Post by Islamic Revival on Apr 17, 2005 6:27:23 GMT -5
Cloning, right or wrong, can man decide?
www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=6011&TagID=28
The recent announcement by a US-based company Clonaid that it has produced a healthy cloned baby girl born to a US woman has met widespread scepticism. The issue has also rekindled an ongoing debate between the proponents of cloning and those opposed to it. At the heart of the dispute are ethical concerns, which scientists, pro-creationists and western politicians are struggling to define in terms of right and wrong.
Scientists who favour cloning argue that the tissue material from cloned embryos could lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of severe human diseases such as Parkinson's, Motor Neuron or Diabetes. On the other hand the Church and pro-life campaigners argue that the cloning of embryos constitutes life, and to terminate an embryo would be no different to terminating the life of any other human being. Western politicians are also deeply divided between the two views. A White House spokesman said that US President George Bush had found the news "deeply troubling", and added that the news underscored the need for legislation to ban all human cloning in the US. While other politicians most notably those with close ties with biotechnology firms are fervent supporters of human cloning.
So who is right? Many people in the West believe that science is fully capable of providing truths about human behaviour, which in turn can be used to govern people's lives. This view is erroneous as the scientific thought is a particular type of thought only suited to the study of material objects under laboratory conditions. Under these conditions no ethical truths are revealed or discovered. This is because material objects do not possess an inherent ethical attribute, which during experimentation manifests itself as right or wrong. Science can only provide explanation of how things function and cannot answer questions such as 'is it right?', or 'should this be allowed?'
The same argument applies to the so called scientific study of human behaviour. Human beings are not born with an ethical code, nor do human actions have an intrinsic ethical quality, which helps the scientist decide whether the action is right or wrong. For instance science can explain the process by which procreation occurs, but can it tell us whether it is right to have sexual relationships in or out of wedlock, between brother and sister or between an adult and a child? Those who choose to engage in incest or sexually abuse children are branded deviants and abhorred by society. The same was said about homosexual relationships, until recently, when public opinion was changed to make homosexuality acceptable as an idea. Scientist then suggested that some people were born with the inclination to prefer people of the same gender. If it were proven that people were born with a tendency to commit incest, sexually abuse children or murder would that in any way make it right? Would these actions be regarded as acceptable by society?
Science is unable to pass ethical judgements on things or human actions and can never provide a code of ethics for mankind. In reality, people live according to a specific viewpoint of life, which shapes their inclinations and tastes. This viewpoint of life emanates from a creed and gives rise to a specific system, which binds people together to produce a distinctive society. The creed coupled with its viewpoint of life produces a code of ethics responsible for governing society.
In capitalist societies it is the secular creed together with its view point on life based on benefit, which determines what is right and wrong. And in practice the politicians who are the elected representatives of the people are given the responsibility of deciding what is right and wrong on behalf of society. Politicians may entertain scientific facts or arguments from other sources during the decision making process, but ultimately the capitalist point of view i.e. benefit determines ethics. Therefore it is common to find western politicians subscribing to those ethical views, which provide them and their sponsors with the greatest amount of benefit. Usually the sponsors of such views are powerful interest groups such as big businesses, wealthy industrialists and influential organisations. Often there is a clash between these powerful groups as each group competes by lobbying politicians to protect their interests. In such circumstances politicians seek a compromise verdict to appease these interest groups. Nevertheless, in both cases no serious attempt is made to seek the truth, the foremost concern of all parties is to safeguard their interests. For instance on the issue of human cloning Tony Blair's New Labour party which has close links with biotech companies is in favour of human cloning, while opposition groups such as the anti-abortion charity, Life want a total ban on all forms of human cloning. In the end, the government sought a middle ground and enacted legislation to support the cloning of human embryos, but outlawed the cloning of a human being. An ethical position which is most definitely incorrect since it does not provide an answer to the original question.
A major flaw of capitalist way of life is that ethical standards constantly evolve and change around benefit. There is no absolute truth or falsehood, right or wrong. What would be viewed as evil and abhorrent at a particular time would be praised and raised high in different times. Take for example the issues of adultery, homosexuality, and children born out of wedlock or the taking of cannabis. All of these issues have been despised in the past, but now are accepted by society. Similarly, what is considered by people as wrong is regarded by other people who share the same values as right. For example, the Europeans consider capital punishment to be barbaric whilst the Americans uphold it as a civilised form of punishment. This leads to people losing confidence in ethical standards and eventually society becomes morally bankrupt and declined.
In Islam truth and falsehood, right and wrong are clearly defined and do not change with age, places or people. The Islamic laws or ethical standards in Islam are fixed and do not revolve around benefit nor are subject to environmental influences. This is because the Islamic creed recognises Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) as the only sovereign and not man. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) alone is the arbiter of what is right and what is wrong. This means that all actions undertaken by Muslims or all judgements pronounced by Muslims on things or events must comply with Islam.
Islam did not leave human beings without guidance in this life. On the contrary, Islam provides a complete and comprehensive way of life in the form of the Quran and the Sunnah of the messenger (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) of Allah. The legal texts found in the Quran and the Sunnah are more than capable of addressing all human problems. This is because the legal texts of Islam have an immense capacity to produce a multitude of solutions to problems encountered by human beings irrespective of diversity of the problem or its complexity. So what is Islam's view on cloning?
The aim of cloning in plants and animals is to improve quality and increase productivity, and to find a natural cure for many common human diseases, especially the acute ones, instead of using chemical drugs which have harmful side effects on mans health.
The improvement in the quality of plants and animals and the increase of productivity is not prohibited from a shari'i perspective, and it is among the things that are allowed. Also, the use of plants and animal cloning to cure human diseases, especially acute ones, is allowed in Islam. It is even recommended because seeking a cure for illness is recommended and manufacturing medicine for curing is recommended as well. Imam Ahmad narrates from Anas, he said; that the Prophet (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,
[/b]
"Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) has created the illness and the cure. So seek a cure."
[/b]
Therefore, it is allowed to use the cloning process to improve the quality of plants and to increase their productivity. It is also allowed to use the cloning process to improve the quality of cows, sheep, camels, horses, and other animals, in order to increase productivity of these animals and to increase their numbers, and to utilise this to cure many of the human diseases especially the acute ones.
www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=6011&TagID=28
The recent announcement by a US-based company Clonaid that it has produced a healthy cloned baby girl born to a US woman has met widespread scepticism. The issue has also rekindled an ongoing debate between the proponents of cloning and those opposed to it. At the heart of the dispute are ethical concerns, which scientists, pro-creationists and western politicians are struggling to define in terms of right and wrong.
Scientists who favour cloning argue that the tissue material from cloned embryos could lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of severe human diseases such as Parkinson's, Motor Neuron or Diabetes. On the other hand the Church and pro-life campaigners argue that the cloning of embryos constitutes life, and to terminate an embryo would be no different to terminating the life of any other human being. Western politicians are also deeply divided between the two views. A White House spokesman said that US President George Bush had found the news "deeply troubling", and added that the news underscored the need for legislation to ban all human cloning in the US. While other politicians most notably those with close ties with biotechnology firms are fervent supporters of human cloning.
So who is right? Many people in the West believe that science is fully capable of providing truths about human behaviour, which in turn can be used to govern people's lives. This view is erroneous as the scientific thought is a particular type of thought only suited to the study of material objects under laboratory conditions. Under these conditions no ethical truths are revealed or discovered. This is because material objects do not possess an inherent ethical attribute, which during experimentation manifests itself as right or wrong. Science can only provide explanation of how things function and cannot answer questions such as 'is it right?', or 'should this be allowed?'
The same argument applies to the so called scientific study of human behaviour. Human beings are not born with an ethical code, nor do human actions have an intrinsic ethical quality, which helps the scientist decide whether the action is right or wrong. For instance science can explain the process by which procreation occurs, but can it tell us whether it is right to have sexual relationships in or out of wedlock, between brother and sister or between an adult and a child? Those who choose to engage in incest or sexually abuse children are branded deviants and abhorred by society. The same was said about homosexual relationships, until recently, when public opinion was changed to make homosexuality acceptable as an idea. Scientist then suggested that some people were born with the inclination to prefer people of the same gender. If it were proven that people were born with a tendency to commit incest, sexually abuse children or murder would that in any way make it right? Would these actions be regarded as acceptable by society?
Science is unable to pass ethical judgements on things or human actions and can never provide a code of ethics for mankind. In reality, people live according to a specific viewpoint of life, which shapes their inclinations and tastes. This viewpoint of life emanates from a creed and gives rise to a specific system, which binds people together to produce a distinctive society. The creed coupled with its viewpoint of life produces a code of ethics responsible for governing society.
In capitalist societies it is the secular creed together with its view point on life based on benefit, which determines what is right and wrong. And in practice the politicians who are the elected representatives of the people are given the responsibility of deciding what is right and wrong on behalf of society. Politicians may entertain scientific facts or arguments from other sources during the decision making process, but ultimately the capitalist point of view i.e. benefit determines ethics. Therefore it is common to find western politicians subscribing to those ethical views, which provide them and their sponsors with the greatest amount of benefit. Usually the sponsors of such views are powerful interest groups such as big businesses, wealthy industrialists and influential organisations. Often there is a clash between these powerful groups as each group competes by lobbying politicians to protect their interests. In such circumstances politicians seek a compromise verdict to appease these interest groups. Nevertheless, in both cases no serious attempt is made to seek the truth, the foremost concern of all parties is to safeguard their interests. For instance on the issue of human cloning Tony Blair's New Labour party which has close links with biotech companies is in favour of human cloning, while opposition groups such as the anti-abortion charity, Life want a total ban on all forms of human cloning. In the end, the government sought a middle ground and enacted legislation to support the cloning of human embryos, but outlawed the cloning of a human being. An ethical position which is most definitely incorrect since it does not provide an answer to the original question.
A major flaw of capitalist way of life is that ethical standards constantly evolve and change around benefit. There is no absolute truth or falsehood, right or wrong. What would be viewed as evil and abhorrent at a particular time would be praised and raised high in different times. Take for example the issues of adultery, homosexuality, and children born out of wedlock or the taking of cannabis. All of these issues have been despised in the past, but now are accepted by society. Similarly, what is considered by people as wrong is regarded by other people who share the same values as right. For example, the Europeans consider capital punishment to be barbaric whilst the Americans uphold it as a civilised form of punishment. This leads to people losing confidence in ethical standards and eventually society becomes morally bankrupt and declined.
In Islam truth and falsehood, right and wrong are clearly defined and do not change with age, places or people. The Islamic laws or ethical standards in Islam are fixed and do not revolve around benefit nor are subject to environmental influences. This is because the Islamic creed recognises Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) as the only sovereign and not man. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) alone is the arbiter of what is right and what is wrong. This means that all actions undertaken by Muslims or all judgements pronounced by Muslims on things or events must comply with Islam.
Islam did not leave human beings without guidance in this life. On the contrary, Islam provides a complete and comprehensive way of life in the form of the Quran and the Sunnah of the messenger (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) of Allah. The legal texts found in the Quran and the Sunnah are more than capable of addressing all human problems. This is because the legal texts of Islam have an immense capacity to produce a multitude of solutions to problems encountered by human beings irrespective of diversity of the problem or its complexity. So what is Islam's view on cloning?
The aim of cloning in plants and animals is to improve quality and increase productivity, and to find a natural cure for many common human diseases, especially the acute ones, instead of using chemical drugs which have harmful side effects on mans health.
The improvement in the quality of plants and animals and the increase of productivity is not prohibited from a shari'i perspective, and it is among the things that are allowed. Also, the use of plants and animal cloning to cure human diseases, especially acute ones, is allowed in Islam. It is even recommended because seeking a cure for illness is recommended and manufacturing medicine for curing is recommended as well. Imam Ahmad narrates from Anas, he said; that the Prophet (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,
[/b]
"Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) has created the illness and the cure. So seek a cure."
[/b]
Therefore, it is allowed to use the cloning process to improve the quality of plants and to increase their productivity. It is also allowed to use the cloning process to improve the quality of cows, sheep, camels, horses, and other animals, in order to increase productivity of these animals and to increase their numbers, and to utilise this to cure many of the human diseases especially the acute ones.