Ethics and fiqh for daily life: an Islamic outline

Islam is a religion at the core of which lies belief and it blossoms and perpetually grows through a code of practice consisting of legal rules and moral principles. Iman will fade if it is not sustained by ethical values and moral ideals and reinforced by legal code pf practices. This book presents some of the pertinent aspects of ethics and fiqh for everyday life which benefits non-specialists in religious studies

Editorial

This issue contains papers of interest not only to academics and researchers in the field of Shariah but also is of relevance to industries like sports

Biomedical issues in Islamic family law

Islamic discourse on biomedical issues is one of the most topical themes in contemporarylslamicthought.However,literatureespousingthissubject demonstrates dichtomo, up"p.ou.hes by treating issues either from ethcical point ofvieworlegaiperspective'Mo,.o*.,thediversityofjuristicpronouncements containing views f.ri upf...iative of the larger ethical impiications of medical technology on core f;ily value-system as Jnvisioned by Islam proves confusing to common folk and paradoxical to research scholars' To remedy the situation' thisbookarguesforanintegratedapproachbybringingtogethertheimmutable principles of rsta*ic?amiryiu* u, ..,ihrir-,.d in the Qur'an and the Strnnah i""g *iat the underlying moral purposes of the law on marriage, procreation, p""i"ny arrd medicj.uL' ettoidingly' it proposes that to thwart the ethico-juridical pitfalls on medical management of family issues, singular reliance on scientihc e"perts may not be adequate. The_ experts specializing in this area should ,fr" ".q""int themselves witil the working knowledge of medical ie.hrrotogies and relatei disciplines. This approach *:r1+ facilitate the accommodation of biomedical technologies into the legal parameters of Islamic family iaw in a more ethically consistent articulation u'hich could be reassuring to ordinary folks and technically coherent to reserchers in the field

Sex reassignment in Islamic Law: the dilemma of transsexuals

Classical Islamic law in terms of assigning legal rules, inter alia, explicitly recognizes four genders among human beings, namely male, female, hermaphrodite, and effeminate male. In this context, the body of rules that regulate male and female behaviors is regarded as normative. Hermaphrodite upon birth are left in limbo until they can be absorbed into any one of the binary gender system upon puberty or else would be regarded as problematic. Effeminate male/transsexuals on the other hand, are expected to contain their psycho-pseudo female tendencies by not becoming erotic. With the advances in the field of medicine, psychology and sociology, the classical fiqhi postulates on transsexuals have been challenged on several grounds including the legitimacy of attempts by transsexuals for sex reassignment. Vast majority of the contemporary Sunni jurists refute it as it is tantamount to a flagrant violation of God`s created human nature while some Sunnis and Shi`ah Imamiyyah validated it. Accordingly, Muslim transsexual, among others, face the acute dilemma of juristic conflicting views on sex-reassignment particularly when emotion runs high on account of sectarianism between its Shi`ah advocates and predominantly Sunni antagonists. This study, therefore, proposes to explores the juridical possibility of such an option in a Sunni context such as Malaysia

Foreword from director

There are hosts of issues that Muslim families confront both at the global and local levels due to Tsnimic changes that are happening around us. This piece elucidates the need for having a national forum to discuss family fiqhi issues in Malaysia

Muslim discourse on international human rights: the problem of harmonization

The concept of human rights as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights undisputedly is a western construct. But since Muslim states at the official plane have committed themselves to its tenets by being signatory to it as members of the United Nations, their afterthought has triggered a debate among the academia about its harmonization with the Islamic notion of human rights. Some reject it in its entirety, others advocate its adoption even at the expense of some Islamic core values and yet another body of opinion sees it in total conformity with Islam. This paper argues that all the above perspectives in spite of their merits miss one important point, namely addressing the issue in the context of Muslim- nation- states interacting with the comity of nations with their own specific value systems. Accordingly, the harmonization in line with the legitimate Islamic methodology is the real alternative which this presentation endeavors to articulate

The status of an illegitimate child in Islamic law: a critical analysis of DNA paternity test

The use of DNA test to determine the paternity of a child is a controversial issue in Islamic law. Although vast majority of legal scholars pragmatically concede its use as ameans of connecting unidentifiable children or dead bodies to their next of kin, they oppose its use to ascribe the paternity of children born out of illicit sexual intercourse to the male parties involved. Consequently, such an illegitimate child is a liability on the female partner in terms of raising and supporting. The conventional logic for such a lopsided application of child’s paternity was that in the case of female partner, it is easy to ascertain that such a child is her biological progeny but establishing such a de facto connection of the child to hermale partner is impossible to obtain. Accordingly, practical option for the naïve even curious but sexually active female member to thwart the stigma and burden of giving birth to such children, has been either abortion or baby dumping (Statistics show that there were 417 baby dumping cases recorded nationwide between 2009 and September 2013. See more at: http://www.theantdaily.com/Main/Baby-dumping-cases-turn ing-into-an-epidemic-in-Malaysia#sthash.fpHHoWGk.dpuf.). This paper, however, argues that in the age of scientific technology invoking the conventional wisdom of non-traceability of male partner in a sexual act no longer holds true. Accordingly, biologically connecting ill-conceived babies to male partners, in the context of present Muslim societies, goes a long way in protecting women and children

The use of zakat revenue in Islamic financing: jurisprudential debate and practical feasibility

Recent juristic debate rages around the possibility of using zakah revenue in Islamic law of public finance to better realize its intended poverty eradication goal. At the theoretical level, both the proponents and opponents employ extensive juristic argumentations to support their points of contention. The thrust of the proponents argument is that zakah without productive implementation would not serve its designated goal of poverty alleviation while the opponents countered this case by saying that zakah collection is primarily designed to be immediately disbursed to the consumption needs of the recipients and not vice versa. In practice, however, it seems that the arguments by the proponents is favored as some counties like Kuwait and Malaysia, aside from providing handouts, also finance health care and education for the poor and needy. Accordingly, in our considered opinion, these issues need to be revisited with the primary aim of identifying a balanced legal stand and a feasible institutional framework which takes into full account both the consumption needs and future self-sufficiency of the deserving recipients. To this end, this paper begins by briefly outlining some theoretical aspects of zakah. Then, it proceeds to critically examine the juristic debate surrounding the permissibility of zakah utilization for financing Islamic socio-economic infrastructure. And lastly, it reviews the proposed framework for such utilization with the idea of advancing some jurisprudentially consistent proposals for further academic explorations

Reproductive technology: a critical analysis of theological responses in christianity and Islam

Reproductive medical technology has revolutionized the natural order of human procreation. Accordingly, some have celebrated its advent as a new and liberating determinant of kinship at the global level and advocate it as a right to reproductive health while others have frowned upon it as a vehicle for “guiltless exchange of sexual fluid” and commodification of human gametes. Religious voices from both Christianity and Islam range from unthinking adoption to restrictive use. While utilizing this technology to enable the married couple to have children through the use of their own sexual material is welcome, the use of third party, surrogacy, and reproductive cloning are not in keeping with the sacrosanct principles of kinship, procreation through licit sexual intercourse, and social cohesiveness for building a cohesive family as uphold by both Christianity and Islam. To examine such larger issues emanating from these new ways of human procreation, beyond the question of legality, is a point which legal scholars in both Christianity and Islam, when issuing religious decrees, have not anticipated sufficiently. The article proposes to be an attempt to that end through a qualitative critical content analysis of selected literature written on the subject

Ibadat (worships) in Islam: a comparative jurisprudential analysis

This book offers a jurisprudential exposition of the acts of worship in Islam based on a comparative analysis of the Muslim jurists` views particularly of the Sunni Schools of Islamic legal thought. Chapter one delineates some key concepts necessary for grasping the intents and purposes of worship from an Islamic viewpoint. Chapter two devotes itself to the discussion of purification, its legal rules and related contemporary questions. Chapter three outlines juridical rules which govern Muslim prayers. Chapter four describes the jurisprudence of fasting together with juristic evaluation of its contemporary issues. Chapter five expounds the classical fiqh of zakah with focus on its application in the modern time. Chapter six examines the juristic rules which regulate hajj and `umrah. The conclusion underlines the basic themes which run throughout the discussion of issues of `ibadat in the book