Ep. 95: Medicine and the Maqasid al-Shariah - Aasim Padela

Modern health care presents a number of dilemmas that Islamic jurisprudence must address. Can an approach rooted in the Maqasid, the objectives of Shariah, provide solutions in ways that classical fiqh cannot? If so, how are these objectives met in cases where the human interests conflict? Is the preservation of life more important than the preservation of religion? Dr. Aasim Padela, author of "Maqasid Al-Shariah and Biomedicine: Bridging Moral, Ethical and Policy Discourses", joins the ImanWire podcast to discuss the challenges in applying Islamic law to modern medicine. Dr. Aasim Padela is an emergency medicine physician and academic scholar, currently the Vice Chair for Research and Scholarship in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). He is founder of the Initiative on Islam and Medicine, and author of many articles and books, with research interests in bioethics, public health and religion. CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Introduction 2:32 - The Problem Space of Modern Medicine 6:57 - The Maqasid and Classical Fiqh 15:53 - A Calibrative Mechanism to Preserve Human Interests 21:21 - The Five Essential Human Interests 26:12 - What's More Important? Religion or Life? 28:32 - Implications For a Health Care Framework 32:27 - Preserving Life Vs Preserving Health 38:00 - Caution in Expanding the Maqasid 40:48 - Case Study: The Brain-Dead Pregnant Woman 47:52 - The Potential of Maqasid 51:41 - Prioritizing Religion in Health Care 1:00:52 - Where Is the Patient's Voice in This?