The rapid escalation of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 into a global pandemic, culminating in the World Health Organization’s declaration on March 11, 2020, marked a historic milestone. The far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic...
moreThe rapid escalation of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 into a global pandemic, culminating in the World Health Organization’s declaration on March 11, 2020, marked a historic milestone. The far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates an interdisciplinary approach to address its myriad ethical challenges. This article categorizes
the key ethical questions explored from an Islamic perspective into two groups: “Historical Issues” and “Modern Issues.” The former revisits questions examined in pre-modern discussions on historical pandemics, while the latter delves into ethical challenges relatively unique to the contemporary context of COVID-19. Each group’s exploration is complemented by a section on “Related Sources,” offering insight into
pertinent primary works. The article concludes with reflections on the evolving trajectory of research in this field. Serving its introductory purpose, the article includes two appendices: Appendix 1, “Overview of Key Ethical Issues," provides a condensed summary in table form, while Appendix 2, “An Extended Bibliography on Islam, Pandemics, COVID-19, and Morality,” offers a comprehensive list of primary and secondary sources for researchers interested in further readings.
The genetic tests that can be performed before marriage, before implanting embryos, during pregnancy, or after birth have offered new opportunities to manage the risks of having children with genetic disorders and the associated financial...
moreThe genetic tests that can be performed before marriage, before
implanting embryos, during pregnancy, or after birth have offered new
opportunities to manage the risks of having children with genetic disorders and the associated financial and social burdens. Like other communities worldwide, many Muslims want to pursue the benefits of these tests but in a way that aligns with their religious beliefs and moral convictions.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Muslim religious scholars, in collaboration with biomedical scientists, have been examining the ethical questions surrounding genetic testing.
This report provides an analytical review of these decades-long Islamic
bioethical deliberations. It provides a systematic overview of the Islamic
perspectives on four main types of genetic testing: premarital; preimplantation; prenatal; and newborn.
Section 1 outlines the related biomedical aspects and key ethical questions, as highlighted in the international bioethical discourse.
Section 2 is dedicated to analyzing the Islamic ethical perspectives and how they can be translated into actionable guidelines. Section 3 provides a number of conclusions and policy recommendations, which we hope will aid policymakers, care providers, and couples in navigating these issues
from an Islamic ethics perspective.
Genetic counseling is a fast-growing profession worldwide, with genetic counselors taking on increasingly comprehensive and autonomous roles in the healthcare sector. However, the absence of appropriate legal frameworks could potentially...
moreGenetic counseling is a fast-growing profession worldwide, with genetic counselors taking on increasingly comprehensive and autonomous roles in the healthcare sector. However, the absence of appropriate legal frameworks could potentially create risks of harm to the public. Legal recognition serves to protect the public from risk of harm by regulating the safe and competent practice of healthcare professionals. Genetic counseling is not legally recognized in most world jurisdictions. Examination of the legal status of genetic counseling in different jurisdictions and whether existing legal mechanisms are adequate to address potential risks of harm is therefore timely. This paper examines the different roles of genetic counselors in the Canadian province of Quebec and the state of Qatar, the authors’ respective jurisdictions. It considers the types of harms that may be created where appropriate legal mechanisms are lacking, considering the socio-political and legal differences between...
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly creeping into the work sphere, thereby gradually questioning and/or disturbing the long-established moral concepts and norms communities have been using to define what makes work...
moreArtificial intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly creeping into the work sphere, thereby gradually questioning and/or disturbing the long-established moral concepts and norms communities have been using to define what makes work good. Each community, and Muslims make no exception in this regard, has to revisit their moral world to provide well-thought frameworks that can engage with the challenging ethical questions raised by the new phenomenon of AI-mediated work. For a systematic analysis of the broad topic of AI-mediated work ethics from an Islamic perspective, this article focuses on presenting an accessible overview of the “moral world” of work in the Islamic tradition. Three main components of this moral world were selected due to their relevance to the AI context, namely (1) Work is inherently good for humans, (2) Practising a religiously permitted profession and (c) Maintaining good relations with involved stakeholders. Each of these three components is addressed in...
This paper describes a global pattern of declining academic freedom, often driven by powerful political interference with core functions of academic communities. It argues that countering threats to academic freedom requires doubling down...
moreThis paper describes a global pattern of declining academic freedom, often driven by powerful political interference with core functions of academic communities. It argues that countering threats to academic freedom requires doubling down on ethics, specifically standards of justice and fairness in pursuing knowledge and assigning warrant to beliefs. Using the example of the selection of a Qatari university to host the 2024 World Congress of Bioethics, the authors urge fairness towards diverse groups over time and efforts to counter injustices that conferences generate.
In 2022, the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) submitted a proposal to host the 17th edition of the World Congress of Bioethics. After announcing that the CILE-WISH...
moreIn 2022, the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) submitted a proposal to host the 17th edition of the World Congress of Bioethics. After announcing that the CILE-WISH proposal was the winning bid, concerns were raised by bioethicists based in Europe and the USA. To address these concerns, the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) developed a dedicated FAQ section, in coordination with the host institutions, for the first time in IAB history. One-to-one communication ensued and individual responses were shared with these colleagues. As a continuation of this conversation, we
In 2022, the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) submitted a proposal to host the 17th edition of the World Congress of Bioethics. After announcing that the...
moreIn 2022, the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) submitted a proposal to host the 17th edition of the World Congress of Bioethics. After announcing that the CILE-WISH proposal was the winning bid, concerns were raised by bioethicists based in Europe and the USA. To address these concerns, the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) developed a dedicated FAQ section, in coordination with the host institutions, for the first time in IAB history. One-to-one communication ensued and individual responses were shared with these colleagues. As a continuation of this conversation, we (CILE Acting Director, WISH Research Fellow and Head of Content, and WISH CEO) address the concerns raised in the Letter-to-the-Editor of Bioethics by Graaf et al. As we support the call to revisit some contentious issues within the global community of bioethicists, we maintain that this should be based on meticulously discussed, informed, consistent and equitable criteria. We also argue that mutual learning from diverse cultures and moral traditions is the optimal way for our scholarly community to be truly global and to eschew the flaws ensuing from ethnocentric discourses.
In 2022, the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) submitted a proposal to host the 17th edition of the World Congress of Bioethics. After announcing that the CILE-WISH...
moreIn 2022, the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) submitted a proposal to host the 17th edition of the World Congress of Bioethics. After announcing that the CILE-WISH proposal was the winning bid, concerns were raised by bioethicists based in Europe and the USA. To address these concerns, the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) developed a dedicated FAQ section, in coordination with the host institutions, for the first time in IAB history. One-to-one communication ensued and individual responses were shared with these colleagues. As a continuation of this conversation, we (CILE Acting Director, WISH Research Fellow and Head of Content, and WISH CEO) address the concerns raised in the Letter-to-the-Editor of Bioethics by Graaf et al. As we support the call to revisit some contentious issues within the global community of bioethicists, we maintain that this should be based on meticulously discussed, informed, consistent and equitable criteria. We also argue that mutual learning from diverse cultures and moral traditions is the optimal way for our scholarly community to be truly global and to eschew the flaws ensuing from ethnocentric discourses.
With the advent of machine learning (ML) applications in daily life, the questions about liability, trust, and interpretability of their outputs are raising, especially for healthcare applications. The black-box nature of ML models is a...
moreWith the advent of machine learning (ML) applications in daily life, the questions about liability, trust, and interpretability of their outputs are raising, especially for healthcare applications. The black-box nature of ML models is a roadblock for clinical utilization. Therefore, to gain the trust of clinicians and patients, researchers need to provide explanations of how and why the model is making a specific decision. With the promise of enhancing the trust and transparency of black-box models, researchers are in the phase of maturing the field of eXplainable ML (XML). In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of explainable and interpretable ML techniques implemented for providing the reasons behind their decisions for various healthcare applications. Along with highlighting various security, safety, and robustness challenges that hinder the trustworthiness of ML we also discussed the ethical issues of healthcare ML and describe how explainable and trustworthy ML can re...
Suffering and death are an inevitable part of life. In our increasingly multicultural society, healthcare professionals are frequently confronted with ideas on suffering and death that are different from their own. As Muslims are the...
moreSuffering and death are an inevitable part of life. In our increasingly multicultural society, healthcare professionals are frequently confronted with ideas on suffering and death that are different from their own. As Muslims are the largest migrant group in the Netherlands, this article focuses specifically on their perspective, illustrated by a clinical case. The different experience of these phenomena, influenced by culture and religion, can lead to confusion and frustration for patients, their relatives, and healthcare professionals alike. It is essential that healthcare professionals are aware of both their own views and those of the patient, and have some knowledge of other cultures and religions. Healthcare professionals can use cultural (self) reflection and culturally sensitive communication, examples of which are provided in this article, to build mutual trust and understanding. This may improve the patientphysician relationship and may make endoflife communication, comple...
رود لاؤــــس جـلاـعـت نأ تــلواــح يــتــلا راـــكـــفلأا عبتتل ةيليلحتلا ةـــساردـــلا هذـــه يــف ىـعـسـن :صــخــلــم .مونيجلا رصع يف ةصاخ ،ةثيدحلا ةيويحلاو ةيبطلا مولعلا تازجنم لّظ يف اهتساردو ةعيرشلا ءلاجتسا ساــسلأاــب اـمـنإو ،ةنيعم...
moreرود لاؤــــس جـلاـعـت نأ تــلواــح يــتــلا راـــكـــفلأا عبتتل ةيليلحتلا ةـــساردـــلا هذـــه يــف ىـعـسـن :صــخــلــم .مونيجلا رصع يف ةصاخ ،ةثيدحلا ةيويحلاو ةيبطلا مولعلا تازجنم لّظ يف اهتساردو ةعيرشلا ءلاجتسا ساــسلأاــب اـمـنإو ،ةنيعم اياضقب قلعتت ةيهقف ماـكـحأ رادـــصإ ةــساردــلا نـم فدـهـلا سيل لًاثمم ةثادحلا نمز يف ةعيرشلا رودب قلّعتت ةلئسأ لوح مهفقاومو نيرصاعملا ءاهقفلا تاروصت ةايح يف »تايداع« ىلإ ةميدقلا »تلايحتسملا« نم ارًيثك تلوّح يتلا ثيدحلا بطلا تازجنمب اذه يف ةيملاسلإا ةعيرشلل رود ىلع ةظفاحملا نورصاعملا ءاهقفلا لواح فيكف .مويلا رشبلا اذهل ةفلتخملا بناوجلا ءاصقتسا لواحن ؟هدودح امو رودلا اذه ةعيبط امو ؟ديدجلا لاجملا تأرط يتلا ةيخيراتلا تاروـطـتـلاو ،نيرصاعملا ءاهقفلا روصت قــفو ،ةعيرشلل ضرتفملا رودـــلا راكفلأا ضعب حرطن ،ةساردلا نم ريخلأا ءزجلا يفو .مونيجلا رصع غوزب عم روصتلا اذه ىلع .ثحبلا عوضومب ةلصلا تاذ تاحرتقملاو ةيدقنلا .تايقلاخأ ،نوثدحملا ءاهقفلا ،ةعيرشلا ءاملع ،ايجولويب ،ةيبط مولع :ةيحاتفم تاملك Abstract: This study offers an analytical overview of discussions a...
By the end of 2013, the Qatar Genome Project (QGP) was launched by HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Similar initiatives in the Gulf region usher new age for genomics in the Arab world. Previous experience in this field has demonstrated that...
moreBy the end of 2013, the Qatar Genome Project (QGP) was launched by HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Similar initiatives in the Gulf region usher new age for genomics in the Arab world. Previous experience in this field has demonstrated that mapping and sequencing human genomes always have profound ethical and social implications. This explains the establishment of the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Research Program as integral part of the Human Genome Project (HGP) with annual fund of $14 Million. This successful experience of interweaving ethics and genomics became the norm for subsequent research projects conducted elsewhere on our planet. Rigorous analysis of the ethical deliberations on genomic technologies shows how religious convictions and cultural values of involved stakeholders can play a decisive role in formulating ethical positions. Bearing in mind the religio-socio-cultural fabric of the Arab world and specifically the Gulf region, one can hardly imagine successful domestication of the ongoing genomic revolution without addressing the relevant ethical concerns from Islamic vantage point. This research explores the Islamic religio-ethical perspectives on genomics-related ethical issues by providing: (A) descriptive overview of the religio-ethical deliberations that already took place in the Arab world and (B) critical analysis of these deliberations and proposing the pressing ethical issues that should still be addressed within the context of future genomic ambitions in the Arab world. (A)Descriptive Overview Realizing the complexity of ethical issues raised by genomics, both Muslim religious scholars and biomedical scientists collectively addressed these issues in successive large-scale expert meetings during the last decade. The Doha-based seminar "Ethical Implications of Modern Researches in Genetics" organized in 1993 by the Faculty of Science, Qatar University was one of the earliest initiatives in this respect. Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences (IOMS) held a seminal seminar on "Genetics, Genetic Engineering, Human Genome and Gene Therapy" in 1998 in Kuwait. The two Islamic Fiqh Academies, one affiliated with the Muslim World League and the other with the Islamic Cooperation Organization, held intensive discussions on similar issues in October 1998, November 1998, 2012 and 2013. During these meetings, various issues were examined from an Islamic perspective including population screening and reproduction ethics, gene therapy, eugenics, and genetic counseling. (B)Critical Analysis This part provides analytical reflection on the deliberations outlined in the first part by "translating" the commonly held ethical positions to a bioethics-friendly discourse in order to establish a constructive trans-cultural bioethical dialogue, e.g. what these deliberations can tell us about Muslim religious scholars' perception of concepts like confidentiality, informed consent and autonomy. Reference will also be made to some ethical issues that should still be seriously addressed because they touch upon central concepts in the Islamic tradition such as ownership, nature of human being, health and illness. Organizing academic and public events for addressing these issues will be the subject of close collaboration in the near future between the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE) and the Supreme Council of Health (SCH).
By the beginning of the 1980s, deliberations on Islam and biomedical ethics started to assume a systematised and collective form through combining contributions from Muslim religious scholars and (Muslim) biomedical scientists. The...
moreBy the beginning of the 1980s, deliberations on Islam and biomedical ethics started to assume a systematised and collective form through combining contributions from Muslim religious scholars and (Muslim) biomedical scientists. The original idea was that biomedical scientists would inform and educate Muslim religious scholars about the scientific and biomedical aspects of specific bioethical issues. After being equipped with sufficient information about these technical aspects, religious scholars would embark upon their normative role by construing the religio-ethical Islamic standpoint. This proposed strict division between the tasks of biomedical scientists and those of religious scholars did not prove to be viable during the gatherings which hosted both groups. Instead of confining themselves to the informative role, biomedical scientists infringed upon the normative role which is typically assigned to Muslim religious scholars alone. Besides presenting technical information, the...
The breathtaking panoply of twentieth-century biomedical advancements made it possible to follow, and even sometimes manipulate, what is going on inside the mother's uteruses during the gestational period. These radical scientific...
moreThe breathtaking panoply of twentieth-century biomedical advancements made it possible to follow, and even sometimes manipulate, what is going on inside the mother's uteruses during the gestational period. These radical scientific developments have had considerable impact on grasping some of the very basic concepts in our lives such as health and sickness, life and death and even the very notion of human personhood.During the period 15-17 January 1985, about eighty Muslim religious scholars and biomedical scientists participated in a seminar organized by the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences (IOMS) in order to examine the impact of these scientific developments on understanding (the beginning of) human personhood from an Islamic perspective. This presentation will delineate the main points of the beginning of life debate in the IOMS seminar and highlight the roles of biomedical and religious arguments in this debate.
The translation of Greek works on medicine and biology into Arabic and their wide dissemination, at the latest by the 6th-7th/12th-13th centuries, in different disciplines of the Islamic tradition were not without consequences, especially...
moreThe translation of Greek works on medicine and biology into Arabic and their wide dissemination, at the latest by the 6th-7th/12th-13th centuries, in different disciplines of the Islamic tradition were not without consequences, especially for fiqh (Islamic law). In their religio-ethical discussions, Muslim jurists addressed this Greek medical legacy, together with comments and additions made by Muslim and non-Muslim, especially Jewish, physicians. This essay starts with introductory remarks about the main approaches to medical views on human embryology in philosophy and theology. I then focus on the works of five Muslims jurists from the 7th-8th /13th-14th centuries, with special attention to the Mālikī jurist Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī (d. 684/1285) and the Ḥanbalī Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751/1350), whose contributions to human embryology remain comparatively unexplored. My main thesis is that the introduction of medical views on human embryology to fiqh literature opened the door for post-...
This article examines the, hitherto comparatively unexplored, reception of Greek embryology by medieval Muslim jurists. The article elaborates on the views attributed to Hippocrates (d. ca. 375 BC), which received attention from both...
moreThis article examines the, hitherto comparatively unexplored, reception of Greek embryology by medieval Muslim jurists. The article elaborates on the views attributed to Hippocrates (d. ca. 375 BC), which received attention from both Muslim physicians, such as Avicenna (d. 1037), and their Jewish peers living in the Muslim world including Ibn Jumay' (d. ca. 1198) and Moses Maimonides (d. 1204). The religio-ethical implications of these Graeco-Islamic-Jewish embryological views were fathomed out by the two medieval Muslim jurists Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī (d. 1285) and Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350). By putting these medieval religio-ethical discussions into the limelight, the article aims to argue for a two-pronged thesis. Firstly, pre-modern medical ethics did exist in the Islamic tradition and available evidence shows that this field had a multidisciplinary character where the Islamic scriptures and the Graeco-Islamic-Jewish medical legacy were highly intertwined. This information problematizes the postulate claiming that medieval Muslim jurists were hostile to the so-called 'ancient sciences'. Secondly, these medieval religio-ethical discussions remain playing a significant role in shaping the nascent field of contemporary Islamic bioethics. However, examining the exact character and scope of this role still requires further academic ventures.
This chapter handles two main questions, namely did Muslim scholars approach apostasy as a public or private issue? And how do the different approaches of these scholars relate to the current situation of Muslims living as religious...
moreThis chapter handles two main questions, namely did Muslim scholars approach apostasy as a public or private issue? And how do the different approaches of these scholars relate to the current situation of Muslims living as religious minorities in the West? Different approaches adopted by Muslim scholars on apostasy are: public, private and neutral. The first remark is that there is a tangible development within Islamic law concerning the issue of apostasy. The second remark is that there is also diversity of opinions among contemporary Muslim councils specialised in studying the situation of Muslims living in the West such as the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) and the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA). The third and final remark is that within the diversity of opinions, there is a general agreement, namely, death penalty as punishment for apostasy cannot be applied among Muslims in the West. Keywords: apostasy; Islamic law; muslim scholars
Life-Sustaining Treatments comprise diverse interventions employed to prevent patients’ death, often without curing or reversing the underlying condition. This Commentary focuses on two life-sustaining treatments, viz., cardiopulmonary...
moreLife-Sustaining Treatments comprise diverse interventions employed to prevent patients’ death, often without curing or reversing the underlying condition. This Commentary focuses on two life-sustaining treatments, viz., cardiopulmonary resuscitation and positive pressure mechanical ventilation, whose use and regulation often generates serious dilemmas for the healthcare professionals almost everywhere, including those working in the Muslim world or caring for Muslims. After a brief account of the historical background of these dilemmas, we review various perspectives within the Islamic tradition towards these life-sustaining treatments and the arguments employed to defend each position.
In the midst of available studies on the relation between technology or science and religion, one of the vital and early episodes of this relation within the Islamic tradition did not receive the due attention from modern researchers....
moreIn the midst of available studies on the relation between technology or science and religion, one of the vital and early episodes of this relation within the Islamic tradition did not receive the due attention from modern researchers. This episode has to do with the discussions of Muslim scholars (‘Ulama) on using the then emerging technology of printing to reproduce the sacred scripture of Muslims, namely, the Qur’an. The main discussions among the ‘ulama on this issue took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when the Ottoman Empire was an important power in the Islamic world. The main question raised here is: what are the juristic arguments used by the ‘Ulama to justify their objection to print the Qur’an? At the end, this article argues that these arguments have not been the sole agent in this issue. Social reality also played an important role and was ultimately, at least partially, responsible for a considerable shift in the standpoints of the ‘Ulama towards this i...
Mohammed Ghaly (
m.ghaly@hum.leidenuniv.nl) Assistant professor of Islamic Studies Faculty of Humanities Leiden University Abstract This article outlines one of the rich ethico-religious debates on organ donation and Muslims in the West by...
moreMohammed Ghaly (
m.ghaly@hum.leidenuniv.nl) Assistant professor of Islamic Studies Faculty of Humanities Leiden University Abstract This article outlines one of the rich ethico-religious debates on organ donation and Muslims in the West by unravelling the Dutch case. Since the 1990s and up to this very moment, the standpoints of Muslims living in the Netherlands towards organ donation have been giving rise to heated socio-political and public debates. Islam, the religion of Muslims living in the Netherlands, has always been focal element in these debates. This article studies a fatwa on organ donation which was issued during a conference held in the Netherlands in 2006. Besides studying the fatwa, the article also pays attention to the socio-political context in which the fatwa was issued and its reception after the conference.
from the Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Medical Humanities in the Middle East; 2018 Nov 17-18: Doha, Qatar.
slamic Perspectives on the Principles of Biomedical Ethics presents results from a pioneering seminar in 2013 between Muslim religious scholars, biomedical scientists, and Western bioethicists at the research Center for Islamic...
moreslamic Perspectives on the Principles of Biomedical Ethics presents results from a pioneering seminar in 2013 between Muslim religious scholars, biomedical scientists, and Western bioethicists at the research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics, Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies. By examining principle-based bioethics, the contributors to this volume addressed a number of key issues related to the future of the field. Discussion is based around the role of religion in bioethical reasoning, specifically from an Islamic perspective. Also considered is a presentation of the concept of universal principles for bioethics, with a response looking at the possibility (or not) of involving religion. Finally, there is in-depth analysis of how far specific disciplines within the Islamic tradition — such as the higher objectives of Sharia (maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah) and legal maxims (qawā'id fiqhīyah) — can enrich principle-based bioethics
Abstract Contemporary Islamic bioethics is generally characterized by a friendly relationship with biomedical technology which is usually seen as one of the good fruits of Western modernity. Muslim religious scholars usually hailed this...
moreAbstract Contemporary Islamic bioethics is generally characterized by a friendly relationship with biomedical technology which is usually seen as one of the good fruits of Western modernity. Muslim religious scholars usually hailed this technology and further acknowledged and endorsed, within specific limits, its public benefits in the fields of medical treatment and healthcare. However, contributions of Muslim religious scholars on the religio-ethical challenges posed by the outbreak of AIDS as a fearful epidemic since the 1980s, showed another vision of these scholars towards Western modernity and its possible ethical dangers from an Islamic perspective. This paper examines one of the milestones of the religio-ethical discussions on AIDS in the Muslim world. On the 3rd of December 1993, the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences (IOMS) held a conference entitled “An Islamic vision for the social problems of AIDS” where more than one hundred Muslim religious scholars and biomedical scientists particip...
In the Netherlands, prenatal screening follows an opting in system and comprises two non-invasive tests: the combined test to screen for trisomy 21 at 12 weeks of gestation and the fetal anomaly scan to detect structural anomalies at 20...
moreIn the Netherlands, prenatal screening follows an opting in system and comprises two non-invasive tests: the combined test to screen for trisomy 21 at 12 weeks of gestation and the fetal anomaly scan to detect structural anomalies at 20 weeks. Midwives counsel about prenatal screening tests for congenital anomalies and they are increasingly having to counsel women from religious backgrounds beyond their experience. This study assessed midwives' perceptions and practices regarding taking client's religious backgrounds into account during counseling. As Islam is the commonest non-western religion, we were particularly interested in midwives' knowledge of whether pregnancy termination is allowed in Islam. This exploratory study is part of the DELIVER study, which evaluated primary care midwifery in The Netherlands between September 2009 and January 2011. A questionnaire was sent to all 108 midwives of the twenty practices participating in the study. Of 98 respondents (respo...