The Prophetic Tradition on The Genetic Code

Science and Sunnah: The Genetic Code

Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed
Clinical Professor of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Louisville, KY 40292
and
President, Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc
7102 W. Shefford Lane
Louisville, KY 40242-6462
E-Mail: IRFI@INAME.COM
Website: http://WWW.IRFI.ORG

HADITH 4

On the authority of Abu 'Abd ar-Rahman 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he is the truthful, the believed, narrated to us:

Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother's belly for forty days in the form of seed, then he is a clot of blood for a like period, then a morsel of flesh for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows the breath of life into him and who is commanded about four matters: to write down his means of livelihood, his life span. His actions, and whether happy or unhappy. By Allah, other than Whom there is no god, verily one of you behaves like the people of Paradise until there is but an arm's length between him and it. And that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of Hell-fire and thus he enters it; and one of you behaves like the people of Hellfire until there is but an arm's length between him and it. And that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of Paradise and thus he enters it. It was related by al-Bukhari and Muslim,

(Ref: An-Nawawi's "Forty Hadith". Translated by Ezzeddin Ibrahim and Denys Johnson-Davis. The Holy Koran Publishing House, Damascus, Syria, 1977, pp. 36-38.)

There are some Muslim thinkers who do not like the interpretation of Qur'an or Sunnah in terms of scientific terminology. However, the author believes there is nothing wrong in attempting to understand or interpret "Islam" in the light of modern knowledge. Through this article the author wants to encourage freethinking, stimulate research ideas among Muslim scholars, scientists and students so that our understanding of Qur'an and Sunnah can be furthered.

This Sunnah deals with the creation of human beings which is mentioned in great detail in Al-Qur'an. However, the astounding and astonishing matter about this Hadith is the angel who blows the breath of life into man and writes down four matters: (1) his means of Livelihood, (2) his life span, (3) his actions, and (4) whether happy or unhappy.

Before the scientific discovery of the Genetic Code and the award of Nobel Prizes to the three discoverers in 1968, it was humanly impossible to scientifically understand this Hadith. In 1990s, we are able to unravel the genetic code with regard to a person's inheritance of certain disease carrying genes. This information may tell us about an individual's life span and/or whether he will be happy or unhappy. Science is yet to discover the genes responsible for a person's "rizq" (food habits, dietetic profile, etc.) and a person's "actions" or behavior such as Type A, B, or C personality.

The present article attempts to show our current knowledge in our ability to perform genetic screening in order to understand a person's inheritance of carrying or developing a certain disease through the study of that person's genes. Our knowledge is still incomplete and we are very far away in attaining the knowledge about the four matters mentioned in this Hadith.

Inside the nucleus of a living cell there are 46 chromosomes which are visible only when the cell divides. The chromosomes are made of DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid. A certain length of the DNA is called the gene. That length of DNA that codes for complete synthesis of a protein is also called a gene. Along the 46 chromosomes of every human cell are some 100,000 genes. The U.S. Government is funding a $3 billion, 15-year Human Genome Project, under the joint leadership of the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, which will allow scientists to know exactly where on our chromosomes each of our 100,000 genes reside. Among these 100,000 genes, there are a few genes, which can be lethal. Every person has a unique set of these seven or eight deadly genes. They are usually hidden, but in the wrong environment or in combination with certain other genes they can express themselves in dangerous ways. Some families carry genetic diseases for generations and they know what type of lethal genes they carry. Most of the people do not know if they carry any genetically defective genes.

In the near future it is possible to get a blue print of our genetic inheritance-and with the knowledge of the most likely cause of our own death. This test can be performed by walking into a physician's office and giving a blood sample with a finger prick. The results of the test reveal if a person has any defective genes that will cause a certain disease or the result may be negative in which case that person will not carry the disease. Most of the adult-onset diseases involve several genes. For example there are at least 17 genes responsible for just one aspect of coronary heart disease-and the genes express themselves only under certain conditions. For most of the genetic diseases it is impossible to predict with a certainty. Geneticists now say that diabetes, hypertension, and cancer run in families. In other words these diseases are genetically inherited. Geneticists can treat adults for the presence of a handful of relatively rare genes - among them those that cause Huntington's disease (causes progressive brain degeneration); adult polycystic kidney disease (causes gradual loss of kidney function); polypsos (this condition leads to colon cancer); hemochromatosis (which could cause liver failure); and certain forms of cancer such as retinoblastoma, some leukemias, and small-cell carcinoma of the lung.

There are two important questions, which have not been answered so far. The first one is whether knowledge of the information is itself potentially hazardous to the individual; and the second one is whether institutions will misuse that knowledge to promote their own dominance and control.

There are two types of tests: prenatal tests and genetic screening tests. The prenatal tests inform future parents of a child's chances of inheriting a condition for which the parent is a carrier-Tay-Sachs disease, sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis- or of inheriting a condition from which a family member has already died-muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, beta-thalassemia. The genetic screening test tells the adults about their own genetic destiny. But do we really want to know? Are we willing to learn the details of our genetic destiny-especially when it involves diseases for which there is no cure? Are we capable of understanding the uncertainties inherent in this high-tech fortunetelling?

Adult polycystic kidney disease comes late in age and causes degenerative condition of the kidneys resulting in gradual loss of kidney function. It is carried on a single, dominant gene. If a man has the disease, then his son has a 50-50 chance of having the gene and if he has two daughters, their chances of having the disease is also 50-50. Usually this disease strikes when one is in his or her 110's. The genetic test only tells whether a persons has the gene that causes the disease, but it doesn't tell whether that person gets the disease in his UO ' s or in his late 60's. No treatment exists to prevent kidney failure in polycystic kidney patients.

There is a certain amount of unwillingness on the part of humans to know their future. However there are individuals who have taken the tests for the occurrence of Huntington's disease which is a neurological disease, a progressive and untreatable brain and muscle degeneration with symptoms that usually show themselves in the 40's. The chances of inheriting this disease

causing gene is also 50-50. Those who took the test and whose results were positive, there were no instances of suicide and only one of severe depression, and one marital breakup among the 71 patients screened.

Nancy Wexler of the Hereditary Disease Foundation says "If the information is limiting, enervating, depressing, if it tears at your self-esteem, if it gives you nothing to do, it might be better not to know." She devoted her professional life to the search for the gene for Huntington's disease which killed her mother and for which she and her sister are at risk.

Scientists stress that the results of genetic testing are ambiguous: genes alone do not determine a disease's prognosis. One can say whether or not an individual appears to have the gene, and those who have the gene have gone on to develop the disease. But one cannot say anything about when the disease will start, what will be the course of the disease, and what will be the relevant aspects of the illness.

The danger comes when imprecise tests are used inorder to predict the future, and when institutions actually use them to construct the future: when employers refuse to hire or train individuals at high risk of dying in their prime; when health-insurance companies insist on knowing the genetic profiles of their potential subscribers before paying for pre-existing genetic conditions; when schools require a permanent genetic record to anticipate which children will exhibit behavioral problems or learning disabilities. In United States genetic discrimination already exists. The risk of increasing the number of people defined as unemployable, uneducable or uninsurable exists. Genetic tests can identify employees who are susceptible to workplace toxins and companies may prohibit hiring such employees because they may contract occupational illnesses. 17 companies out of 500 had used genetic tests within the last 12 years, and 59 were considering the possibility. There is the danger of using the genetic tests for purposes of "eugenics." Eugenics means the deliberate manipulation of the gene pool with the idea of creating a master race. Defective people walking around may not be allowed to reproduce for the betterment of society.

Many of the conditions that will be uncovered through genetic studies are not life threatening, but might not fit into some societal scheme: genetic dyslexia, for example; genetic shyness; genetic arrogance; genetic left-handedness.

It is known that left-handed people have shorter life expectancies, which is relevant to insurance companies. But left-handed people may suffer for lack of knowledge whether left-handedness occurs for reasons other than genetic. They may be construed from birth as brain-damaged.

Allah is all knowing.

Source : http://irfi.org/articles/articles_1_50/science_and_sunnah_the_genetic_code.htm

ISLAMIC MEDICAL ETHICS-- SOME QUESTIONS & CONCERNS

ISLAMIC MEDICAL ETHICS-- SOME QUESTIONS & CONCERNS

by Shahid Athar,M.D.

*Clinical Associate Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Chair, Medical Ethics Committee, Islamic Medical Association of North America. Presented at "Islam in America Conference" DePaul University, Chicago, September 29, 1995.

Medical Ethics: An Islamic Perspective

---

The introduction of newer technology in medicine in areas of life support in terminal patients, abortion, organ transplantation, biotechnical parenting, and care of AIDS patients has posed Muslim physicians and patients some new questions of ethics. The ethics is not being right or wrong, all black or all white, but as having shades of gray. It is the process of making better decisions or worse decisions compared to the worst decision. Islamic medical ethics are based on the priciples of the sanctity of human life and safeguarding its values, taking the lesser of the two evils. We look upon these issues from the perspective of Muslim physicians in that we have to face the dilemma in medical ethics on a daily basis.

Life, though short as it may look on this planet, is still a precious gift from God. Since we did not create our life, nor are the owners of it, we should not have the absolute power over it either. For our soul and spirit to live in our body for a certain period can be compared to living in a beautiful, leased apartment or house. The only thing which the landlord would like the tenant to do is to live with certain rules and regulations and do things to improve upon the apartment or house rather than destroy it. We have a duty to preserve our life and to use it for glory and pleasure in the service of God as the quality of life would permit.

The guiding principle in Islamic medical ethics which is mentioned in Quran and also in the Torah is, "If anyone has saved a life, it would be as if he has saved the life of the whole of mankind." However, the question that we are faced with, in terms of saving life, is at what cost and what quality. Does the quality of life modify our decision-making process and when resources are scarce, who takes precedence, the individual or the community?

In addition to the emphasis on preserving life and the quality of life, the principles of biomedical ethics include promoting and restoring health, alleviating suffering, respecting patients' autonomy, doing medical justice, telling the truth, and doing no further harm.

We, the physicians, cannot remain aloof from the religion of our patient as we ourselves, in patients not only expect me to help them in arriving at a medical decision, but also ask me to pray for them. If we, the physicians, understand the religion of our patients, we can communicate to them better and help them make viable decisions and comply with a prescribed treatment. Sickness precipitates questions about himself and his future in the mind of a patient and drives him closer to God, whatever his distance might have been at the beginning of the illness. During illness, many patients go through spiritual growth and find their spirituality at the end. A physician's own belief may influence his treatment options for the patient's outcome. For example, a physician who is totally against abortion will never advise his patient to undergo an abortion, and a physician who does not value the sanctity of life may become a suicide-doctor. The Muslim physician, knowing that we have no right to take our own lives, should not assist his patient in that, either.

Some of the rules of medical ethics include a) respect for the autonomy and b) beneficence.
People are autonomous in the decision-making process if they are able to understand and make intelligent decisions for themselves which are intentional and voluntary. The right of patient self- determination accepted by the State is based on this principle.

The second principle is that of beneficence, which obliges persons to benefit and help others. This principle requires positive action to prevent what is bad or harmful, to remove what is bad or harmful, and to do, or promote, what is good and beneficial.

The Islamic principle of forbidding what is wrong and enjoining what is good illustrates this. The knowledge of medical technology obliges Muslim physicians to offer what medical justice requires. Medical justice by itself is a principle of fair distribution of benefits and burdens. Justice requires that persons receive that which they deserve and to which they are entitled. These principles involve decisions to allocate scarce health resources. The actual implementation of this principle remains somewhat controversial. Physicians' response to individual justice differs at times with "societal" justice.

Another rule is nonmaleficence. This principle obliges persons to refrain from harming others including refraining from killing them or treating them cruelly. It is one of the non-intervention.

It also requires the person to exercise due care so that they do not unintentionally harm others such as malpractice in medical or surgical care. Let us discuss the questions of rights and obligations.

These rights mavbe considered in relation to the right to die, the right to abort a viable fetus, the right to have a child in case of infertility, or the right to donate or receive an organ, or the rights of the individual whose disease maybe due to an deviant lifestyle. Not only should we discuss the right of the individual, but also the rights of the spouse, relatives, physician and other care- givers, the unborn, and God. While discussing the rights, we must also discuss the obligations of the State, community, the individual, the spouse, and the relatives.

In the question of the right to live or die, the question is should one prolong the life or the misery. Who determines (the unconscious patient, the family, or the doctor), that the plug should be pulled and the life support system stopped? What is the definition of death, acceptable to both the medical technology and Islamic jurists? Is a living will justified? Is stopping the life support system an act of mercy, a medical decision, a murder, or a financial decision?

While Islam gives importance to saving life, it also makes it clear that dying is part of the contract with God and part of the journey on this planet. The final decision of the term is up to God. The quality of life is equally, if not more important than the life span on this planet.

Physicians and the family should realize the limitations of medical technology and should not attempt to do heroic measures for a terminally-ill patient who is in a vegetative state and cannot be resurrected to a quality of life acceptable to him. The heroic measures taken at the beginning of life like saving a premature baby are more justifiable than at the end of the life span. We consider euthanasia an act of murder. We do not see the difference between the gun used by a husband for his dying wife and the syringe used by the physician for his dying patient; both are weapons of death no matter what the intention of the killer was.

The ethical questions in the area of organ transplantation are what are the rights of the living donor, the dead body, and the recipient. To prolong life, does the recipient have a right to take away the organ from the dead? Is the sale of the organs justified? Is the taking of animal organs justified? Is accepting organs from aborted fetuses justified? Is harvesting fetuses to get more fetal tissue justified? Is the cost of transplantation worth the benefit derived from it? The total cost of heart transplantation is in excess of several hundred thousand dollars, with an average post-transplantation life of two to three years, and the quality of post-transplantation life is not necessarily the same level as it was before the development of end-stage heart disease. I have not seen a single heart transplant patient going back to work.

Transplantation, in general, is permitted especially if it is a gift from a living donor to another living person. From the Islamic perspective, transplantation from the dead to the living may not be permitted unless a free will is available before the death of the person. The relatives and the physicians should respect the rights of the dead body even though their intention to save another life is noble.

The ethical questions in cases of abortion are when does life begin? If a fetus is a living individual than is terminating its life a murder? What are the rights of the fetus? Who guards those rights? Do both parents even if unwed have the same rights over the life of the fetus? What should be done with the pregnancy that is the outcome of a rape? Should all such pregnancies be terminated?

What if the women wants to keep her baby even if she did not want it to begin with? Is promoting or not preventing abortion which will lead to more sales of aborted fetuses for transplantation of fetal tissue and organs or their delicate skin to make expensive cosmetics justified? Islam believes that life begins when the zygote is formed.

The women of pagan Arabia, before Islam, killed their infants for the fear of poverty or the shame of birth of a girl. Both of these acts have been condemned in Quran, but the women of today are killing their infants not for either cause but to sustain and enjoy the life of sexual freedom. God reminds them: "Such as took their religion to be mere amusement and play, and were deceived by the life of the world. That day shall We forget them as they forgot the meeting of this day of theirs, and as they were wont to reject Our Signs." (Qur'an 7:51).

There are many questions in the area of biotechnicall reproduction and surrogacy. Infertility is a disease and to desire to seek a cure for the disease is Islamic. However, this has to be done within the life span of an intact marriage between husband and wife. The marriage is a legal contract not only between man and a woman, but also between God and the couple. Thus the question is whether the child was born of an intact legal marriage or outside the marriage. In case of a surrogate father, who is the real father and does the child have the right to know his identity? In case of a surrogate mother, who is the real mother, the one whose ovum is being used or the one who lets her uterus be used? Is renting the uterus with money for this purpose allowed or justified?

A woman who does not want to go through pregnancy, labor, or lactation can donate her ovum every month to different women, technically, to hire a uterus and have many children. In the case of mothers renting their own uterus in place of their daughters', with the sperm of their son-in law, totally disrupts the concept of marriage and social norms and of lineage. The Qur'an is specific in terms of lineage and definition of motherhood. It says, "No one can be their mother except those who gave them birth" (Qur'an 58:2). Qur'an also says, "He has established the relationship of lineage and marriage" (Qur'an 25:54).

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become the plague of the century. In the United States alone, over 220,000 have been diagnosed and half of them have already died. The ethical questions as to the care of AIDS are:

• Who will pay for the cost of the billion of dollars spent on the care of AIDS patients since the insurance companies do not insure them?
• should the AIDS patient be quarantined and forced to change their lifestyle?
• should IV users be given free, clean needles, syringes and drugs since IV drug use and AIDS are very easily correlated?
• should HIV positive carriers carry an ID card?
• should everyone be tested for HIV without their knowledge, and if so, what should be done with the positive results in terms of employment and medical care?
• does paying for AIDS cases by the public or the government mean that they endorse the lifestyle of the patient? and
• should Muslim physicians care for AIDS patients?

The Islamic response to AIDS is, in brief, directed at a different level, firstly, to prevent the disease by having a sexual lifestyle prescribed by God. In those cases where AIDS can be acquired without a sexual contact, for example, by transfusion in case of hemophiliacs, all measures should be taken to protect the individual. After AIDS has been acquired, it should be treated like any other chronic disease.

We never question the lifestyle of patients with other diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, nor do we discriminate against them or stop caring for them. Thus Muslim physicians have an obligation to continue caring for AIDS patients while taking the necessary precautions for themselves at the same time when participating in preventive measures and education.

The Rights of God

Last but really most important, nobody seems to talk about the rights of the Creator. The Creator of life and death has certain rights over His Creations which man should acknowledge. They are:

• He should be believed in,
• His will and injunction should be sought,
• Once known, His and His messengers' decisions should be given preference over man's ever changing opinion (Qur'an 33:36),
• No deliberate attempt should be made to go against the will of God (36:77).

---

Shahid Athar, M.D., Inc.
8424 Naab Road, Suite 2D
Indianapolis, IN 46260
Tel: (317) 872-5159
E-mail: SAthar3624@aol.com

The Inadequacy of Western Methodology

Methodology and the Inadequacy of Western Methods

Methodology ( in scientific study) is the fields of scientific inquiry concerned with the examination of the methods used in the study of natural and human phenomena. A scientific method consists of a number of rules a researcher must follow in the study of the subject matter of his research. Those researchers who apply scientific methods may claim that the knowledge produced by their research is scientific.

The researcher must use methods currently acknowledged by the scientific inquiry. however a new method could be applied provided he demonstrates its soundness. The determination of the soundness of scientific methods is the task of methodology.

Methodology is thus the fields of scientific inquiry into justification, description, and explanation of the rules and procedures which constitute scientific methods. As such, methodology is not confined to description of scientific procedures, but involves the analysis of the grounds which justify their use.

The Inadequacy of Western Methods

1. Modern Western methods have had an empiricist bias which culminated in contemporary times in the logical positivistic approach embodied in western behaviorism. they have abandoned behaviorism under pressure from its critics.

2. Throughout the last three centuries, Western scholarship was able to completely eliminate revelation as a source of knowledge, thereby reducing it into the level of mere fiction and myth.


source : The foundation of knowledge ( Louay Safi)

Religious Views on Eating Pork

Why is the eating of pork forbidden in Islam?

By : Dr Zakir Naik


The fact that consumption of pork is prohibited in Islam is well known. The following points explain various aspects of this prohibition:



1. Pork prohibited in Qur’an


The Qur’an prohibits the consumption of pork in no less than 4 different places. It is prohibited in 2:173, 5:3, 6:145 and 16:115.


"Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah." [Al-Qur’an 5:3]


The above verses of the Holy Qur’an are sufficient to satisfy a Muslim as to why pork is forbidden.


2. Pork prohibited in the Bible

The Christian is likely to be convinced by his religious scriptures. The Bible prohibits the consumption of pork, in the book of Leviticus


"And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you".


"Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you."[Leviticus 11:7-8]


Pork is also prohibited in the Bible in the book of Deuteronomy


"And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you. Ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass."

[Deuteronomy 14:8]


A similar prohibition is repeated in the Bible in the book of Isaiah chapter 65 verse 2-5.


3. Consumption of pork causes several diseases

The other non-Muslims and atheists will agree only if convinced through reason, logic and science. Eating of pork can cause no less than seventy different types of diseases. A person can have various helminthes like roundworm, pinworm, hookworm, etc. One of the most dangerous is Taenia Solium, which is in lay man’s terminology called tapeworm. It harbours in the intestine and is very long. Its ova i.e. eggs, enter the blood stream and can reach almost all the organs of the body. If it enters the brain it can cause memory loss. If it enters the heart it can cause heart attack, if it enters the eye it can cause blindness, if it enters the liver it can cause liver damage. It can damage almost all the organs of the body.

Another dangerous helminthes is Trichura Tichurasis. A common misconception about pork is that if it is cooked well, these ova die. In a research project undertaken in America, it was found that out of twenty-four people suffering from Trichura Tichurasis, twenty two had cooked the pork very well. This indicates that the ova present in the pork do not die under normal cooking temperature.


4. Pork has fat building material

Pork has very little muscle building material and contains excess of fat. This fat gets deposited in the vessels and can cause hypertension and heart attack. It is not surprising that over 50% of Americans suffer from hypertension.


5. Pig is one of the filthiest animals on earth

The pig is one of the filthiest animals on earth. It lives and thrives on muck, faeces and dirt. It is the best scavenger that I know that God has produced. In the villages they don’t have modern toilets and the villagers excrete in the open air. Very often excreta is cleared by pigs.


Some may argue that in advanced countries like Australia, pigs are bred in very clean and hygienic conditions. Even in these hygienic conditions the pigs are kept together in sties. No matter how hard you try to keep them clean they are filthy by nature. They eat and enjoy their own as well as their neighbour’s excreta.


6. Pig is the most shameless animal

The pig is the most shameless animal on the face of the earth. It is the only animal that invites its friends to have sex with its mate. In America, most people consume pork. Many times after dance parties, they have swapping of wives; i.e. many say "you sleep with my wife and I will sleep with your wife." If you eat pigs then you behave like pigs. We Indians look upon America to be very advanced and sophisticated. Whatever they do, we follow after a few years. According to an article in Island magazine, this practice of swapping wives has become common in the affluent circles of Bombay.

Copyright © For Everyone, :: Ummah Network ::

Islam in the West : Its Future

ISLAM AND ITS FUTURE

" When Allah's succour and the triumph cometh, and you see mankind entering the religion of God in troops, then hymn the praises of your Lord and seek forgiveness. Lo! He is ever ready to show mercy" Quran 110:1-2-3

The movement of immigrants, refugees, migrant labor and exiles from all over the Muslim world to Western nations in the post-World War II era, coupled with the conversion of Europeans and Americans to Islam, has created a new dynamic, transforming the old relationship between "Islam" and "the West." Islam and Muslims are not exclusively "over there" or "the other." They have become part and parcel of the West. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Islam is not only the second largest religion in the world, it has become the second- or third-largest religion in Europe and North America.

The Muslims in the West deserve the sympathetic support of the Muslim community (ummah) as a whole. And the ones who do feel concern for Muslims in the West must understand that they will only do harm if their motive is to force Western Muslims into any particular mold. We have the example of the village Imams imported from Pakistan and Bangladesh in the British communities, who do not help to integrate. The "Islam" which they offer to anyone who shows interest is not the Islamic Faith that Muslims in the West recognize or share. Another example is also those of our Saudi brothers who would like us all to adopt a Wahabi, or should I say Muwahid, understanding of Islam. No one should involve himself in this matter unless he is able to adopt a very broad and tolerant view of the Faith and unless he is prepared to make allowances for the difficulty in following the Shari‘ah fully in such an alien environment. What we most need is unity between the different communities of Muslim immigrants and also their offspring. We do not need the creation of further divisions and further conflict.

The essential, so far as Muslims in the West are concerned, is an agreement to differ. It is pointless to expect the majority of Muslims in Europe and America to practice Islam exactly as they did or should have done in their country of origin, and to insist that they do so is a sure way to drive the young out into the wilderness.
(source:The Muslims in the West by Charles Gai Eaton (Hassan Abdul Hakeem))



As for the future of Islam, many scholars and Muslims differ on its trend in the West. Many think that Islam will rise, anew, from the West and that the West will convert to Islam. Other scholars disagree. They think that the West lived and will still live as a secular world and that Islam cannot overcome the obstacles it has set forth.

Al-Faruqi, a Professor of Islamic studies in an American university, said: “The best of Islamic victories will be conquering America through its conversion to Islam. But is this feasible? Will America, so engrossed in materialism, become a Muslim country? We can hope that many more Westerners will one day convert to Islam.

He thinks that America will certainly be Muslim one day. The failure of Christianity and Capitalism may lead to that end. According to him, the West will soon seek another alternative to its way of life. Also, it can be seeen that many Western scholars are converting to Islam and trying to introduce Islam to the West. Dr. Murad Hoffman, former Germany’s ambassador to Morocco, wrote a book he called, “Islam is the Alternate Solution.” He wrote: “I think that the movement to revive Islam will come from Europe in the 21st century.” Also, when Roger Garaudy (a French philosopher) became a Muslim, Europe was shocked because a materialist and a communist thinker became a Muslim!

Dr. Kamal Abdul-Hamid Nimr, another professor with the Saudi Academy in Washington, disagrees. He said: “Those who dream of the rise of the Islamic state from America are misguided. The religious freedom, that they experience in America and were prevented from in their own homelands, is misleading. The rise of Islam from America is but a sweet dream!”. He thinks that it is impossible that Islam can be established in such a society so deeply egocentric and materialistic. He thinks that the west will stay as it is, an enemy of Islam, and is driven to this conclusion by what the West has become. He sees the collapse of morality, disbelief and rejection of faith that the West is experiencing. They think that the effect of Western Civilization and the huge number of misconceptions about Islam will prevent them from answering the call to Islam.

However the case, we shall be optimistic, given the number of people converting to Islam everyday in the Western countries, and we shall put our trust in God, who will not leave His people without help provided they make some humble effort to deserve this help. Insha Allah!


Original source, please visit : http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/april02_index.php?l=7

What type of justice would Western prefer... for the sake of human rights ?

Killing Veiled Muslims in Europe, a Forthcoming Trend?

By Euro-Muslims Editorial Desk



Marwa Al-Shirbini, the victim
A veiled Muslim mother was savagely murdered in Dresden courtroom, Germany. The murderer is the same attacker who was in court appealing the €780 fine for his insult to the victim's Islamic headscarf.

Marwa Al-Sherbini, a 32-year-old Egyptian based in Germany, was stabbed several deadly times under the court ceiling and with the presence of the German police. She has been living in Germany for years with her husband, the Egyptian academic Elwi Ali-Okaz, who is studying for his post graduate studies in Germany.

The three-month pregnant mother was not the only victim but Okaz, her husband, was also hurt in his attempts to protect her from the criminal's knife and he is currently in a critical condition at Dresden College hospital.
The stabbing happened on July 1, just before Al-Sherbini was to give her evidence on a recent discriminatory attitude took by the criminal towards her hijab. During the struggle, other bystanders were also injured and police fired a shot. The killer, identified only as Alex W., is now subject to the German police forces' investigations.

While some officials insist on not to relate this criminal act to the fact that Mrs. Al-Sherbini is a veiled Muslim woman in the German secular society assuming that it has nothing to do with persecution against Muslims in Germany, others say that this incident shows a sample of open hostility towards foreigners and Muslims in Germany.

It is worth mentioning that this incident came days after the German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sought understanding for Germany’s integration policies in a speech he gave at Egypt’s Cairo University, stating that anti-democratic ideas in Muslim communities must be combated.


After reviewing the story and the different opinions on it, how do you feel towards such a criminal act? Do you expect angry reactions from Muslims in Germany, and/or Europe? As a human being ─ regardless of your race, color, or belief, what will be your own reaction towards such a savage act?
________________________________________
Euro-Muslims Editorial Desk

Organ Donation.... how Islam deals With it?

Organ Donation Problems

by Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D.
President
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
7102 W. Shefford Lane
Louisville, KY 40242-6462, U.S.A.
E-mail: IRFI@INAME.COM
Website: http://WWW.IRFI.ORG

Organ donation is the charitable act or gift of an organ to help someone who needs a transplant. Americans are not donating their organs to be used after they die, and hence there are over 78,000 men, women, and children waiting for organ transplants in America, and 14 of these people die every day while waiting to receive an organ transplant. There are more than five people waiting for every organ made available by donation. An estimated two in three Americans have not indicated their wishes about donation. The United Network for Organ Sharing found slow growth in the number of organs from deceased donors. Kidneys from living donors are more likely to survive than those from deceased donors. In 1999, there were a total of 21,715 transplants performed in the United States, up 44 percent from 1990.

Some people have religious or cultural objections to donate organs. Living donors--those who volunteer a kidney or parts of their liver or lungs--are understandably reluctant: they must undergo potentially life-threatening surgery and put their own future health at risk.

More and more people with HIV and/or hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C are going to need organ transplants, particularly liver transplants. Europe and Singapore have what is called a Presumed Consent organ collection system. That means that when an accident occurs to a person who has not opted out, and brain death is declared, his or her organs can be taken immediately without the time.

First transplants
Thousands of people have their sight restored by donated corneas. A cornea was first transplanted in 1905. In 1918 Blood transfusion became established and the first successful kidney transplant took place in 1954. Christian Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa performed the first heart transplant in 1967.

Deaths on Waiting List
The number of deaths on the waiting list has also more than tripled—from 1,958 in 1990 to 6,125 in 1999. In 2001 more than 6,000 people in the U.S. died while waiting for an organ transplant. The dire shortfall of organs compared with patient demand is growing as the population ages and more people experience organ failure. New
Immunosuppressive drugs have helped bridge the gap by allowing surgeons to transplant an organ that is a less than perfect match; even then, there just aren't enough organs available.

There were 5,849 cadaveric, or dead, donors in 1999 an increase of 30 percent from 1990. Each donor can give 3 to 4 organs. Among cadaveric donors, 85 percent died due to head trauma or stroke. There were 4,712 living donors in 1999, more than twice the number in 1990. Of living donors, 35 percent were siblings, 18 percent were parents and 20 percent came from people who were not related.
Survival Rates
89 percent of kidneys taken from a cadaver and 95 percent of the patients who received them survived at least one year after transplant. Among those who got kidneys from living donors, 95 percent of kidneys and 98 percent of patients were alive a year later. 81 percent of livers and 88 percent of liver transplant patients survived at least a year. 85 percent of hearts and 86 percent of heart transplant patients survived at least a year.

What organs are transplanted?
Kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, small bowel, corneas, heart valves and bone can all be transplanted. Skin can be used to treat patients with severe burns. Techniques are improving all the time and it may soon be practical to transplant other parts of the body. An individual can donate heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, liver and small bowel.

Tissue that can be donated includes corneas, skin, bone and heart valves. Corneas can be transplanted to restore the sight of a person who has a severe eye disease or injury. Bone and tendons are used for reconstruction after an injury or during joint replacement surgery. A bone transplant can prevent limb amputation in patients suffering from bone cancer.

Heart valves are used to help children born with heart defects and adults with diseased or damaged valves. Skin grafts are used as protective dressings to help save the lives of people with severe burns.
Most people can donate tissue. Unlike organs, tissue can be donated up to 24 hours after a person has died and can be stored for longer periods.
Reproductive organs and tissue are not taken from dead donors.

Who can be a donor?
A person under sixteen can donate an organ provided the parents or guardian agree to donation. Older people can donate in the case of cornea and some other tissue, age does not matter. For other organs it is the person's physical condition, not age, which is the deciding factor. Doctors decide in each case which organs/tissue are suitable. Organs from people in their seventies and eighties are transplanted successfully.

Color of the Skin
Color of the skin of the donor does not matter. However, organs are matched by blood group and tissue type and the better the match, the greater the chance of a successful result. Patients from the same ethnic group are more likely to be a close match. It is important that people from all ethnic backgrounds to donate organs. Successful transplants are carried out between people from different ethnic groups wherever the matching criteria are met.

The organ shortage has led various policymakers to propose radical steps. U.S. policy makers are proposing to provide financial incentives to living donors or to the families of deceased donors. One approach, which has been instituted in Pennsylvania and is supported by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, offers families who donate a loved one's organs $300 in food and lodging expenses. Medical journals are advocating the program assert that the amount of money is intentionally small to "express appreciation" for the donation but not to serve as a payment. It is similar to the token coffee mug or umbrella one receives after donating to public radio or television. More important, some are agonized that these programs would mark the first step in encouraging an inhumane and delicately coercive market for spare body parts. In Islam, buying and selling of human organs for transplantation is prohibited. It should be done only as Sadaqah.

Although the outright purchase of organs is illegal in nearly every country in the world, a number have black markets for living-donor organs, and the results have been frightening. A study of 305 living kidney donors in Madras (Chennai), India, found that 96 percent sold a kidney to pay off debts, receiving Rs.50, 000 or US $1,070 a piece. But 75 percent of the respondents soon faced debt and destitution once again, and 79 percent would not recommend organ selling to others. Permitting trade in organs has already led to the exploitation of the poor.

A multitude of bills now in Congress would create a "medal of honor" for donors, offer medical leave for living donors. Living donors will have life and disability insurance in case they experienced unconstructive side effects. There is a need for an expanded public education campaign that would explain the need for organ donation and throw light on the process. Physicians and hospital personnel also require more training in encouraging organ donation
It was shown that more than 95 percent of families would consent to organ donation if they knew it was the wish of their loved one. The unusual tactic of appealing to people's better natures may not be the only way to raise the number of organs available for transplantation, but it is the best method to start.