Medical Ethics in the Western Cape of South Africa, An Islamic Clerical Perspective

Abstract

This study examines how Islamic clerics in the Western Cape conceptualise and address contemporary medical-ethical questions. It situates their reasoning against the limits of the four-principle framework of biomedical ethics when applied to Islamic moral thought grounded in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and Sufi ethical cultivation. Using qualitative content and discourse analysis, the study applies a critical framework that combines Al-Zuhayli’s neo-traditional usūlī paradigm with Auda’s maqāṣid-based reformist approach to analyse primary data from local clerics and archived fatāwā from regional judicial bodies. The findings indicate no single dominant methodological tendency: while many clerics consult medical experts and engage contemporary realities, their final rulings frequently revert to traditional patterns that prioritise preservation of life. Proactive notions of well-being and medical-ethical reform remain underdeveloped. The diversity and inconsistency across verdicts highlight the absence of a coherent medical-ethical framework in the Western Cape and the need for structured collaboration between jurists, clinicians, and scholars of Islamic legal theory.