Van den Branden Stef, Broeckaert Bert
Faculty of Theology, Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Religion and World Views, K.U. Leuven, St.-Michielsstraat 4, bus 3101, Leuven, Belgium.
Med Health Care Philos. 2011 Feb;14(1):29-41. doi: 10.1007/s11019-010-9280-1.
Ever since the start of the twentieth century, a growing interest and importance of studying fatwas can be noted, with a focus on Arabic printed fatwas (Wokoeck 2009). The scholarly study of end-of-life ethics in these fatwas is a very recent feature, taking a first start in the 1980s (Anees 1984; Rispler-Chaim 1993). Since the past two decades, we have witnessed the emergence of a multitude of English fatwas that can easily be consulted through the Internet ('e-fatwas'), providing Muslims worldwide with a form of Islamic normative guidance on a huge variety of topics. Although English online fatwas do provide guidance for Muslims and Muslim minorities worldwide on a myriad of topics including end-of-life issues, they have hardly been studied. This study analyses Islamic views on (non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide as expressed in English Sunni fatwas published on independent--i.e. not created by established organisations--Islamic websites. We use Tyan's definition of a fatwa to distinguish between fatwas and other types of texts offering Islamic guidance through the Internet. The study of e-fatwas is framed in the context of Bunt's typology of Cyber Islamic Environments (Bunt 2009) and in the framework of Roy's view on the virtual umma (Roy 2002). '(Non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide' are defined using Broeckaert's conceptual framework on treatment decisions at the end of life (Broeckaert 2008). We analysed 32 English Sunni e-fatwas. All of the e-fatwas discussed here firmly speak out against every form of active termination of life. They often bear the same structure, basing themselves solely on Quranic verses and prophetic traditions, leaving aside classical jurisprudential discussions on the subject. In this respect they share the characteristics central in Roy's typology of the fatwa in the virtual umma. On the level of content, they are in line with the international literature on Islamic end-of-life ethics. English Sunni e-fatwas make up an influential and therefore important developing body of Islamic orthodox normative authority on end-of-life ethics that is still open for further research.
自20世纪初以来，对法特瓦的研究兴趣日益浓厚且愈发重要，研究重点是阿拉伯文印刷的法特瓦（沃克克，2009年）。对这些法特瓦中临终伦理的学术研究是一个非常新的现象，始于20世纪80年代（阿尼斯，1984年；里斯普勒 - 查伊姆，1993年）。在过去二十年里，我们见证了大量英文法特瓦的出现，通过互联网（“电子法特瓦”）可以轻松查阅，为世界各地的穆斯林提供了关于众多主题的一种伊斯兰规范性指导。尽管英文在线法特瓦确实为全球的穆斯林和穆斯林少数群体在包括临终问题在内的无数主题上提供了指导，但它们几乎未被研究过。本研究分析了在独立的（即非由既定组织创建的）伊斯兰网站上发布的英文逊尼派法特瓦中所表达的关于（非）自愿安乐死和协助自杀的伊斯兰观点。我们采用泰扬对法特瓦的定义来区分法特瓦与通过互联网提供伊斯兰指导的其他类型文本。对电子法特瓦的研究是在邦特的网络伊斯兰环境类型学（邦特，2009年）背景下以及罗伊关于虚拟乌玛的观点框架（罗伊，2002年）中进行的。“（非）自愿安乐死和协助自杀”是使用布勒卡特关于临终治疗决策的概念框架（布勒卡特，2008年）来定义的。我们分析了32条英文逊尼派电子法特瓦。这里讨论的所有电子法特瓦都坚决反对任何形式的主动结束生命行为。它们通常具有相同的结构，仅依据《古兰经》经文和先知传统，抛开了关于该主题的经典法学讨论。在这方面，它们具有罗伊虚拟乌玛中法特瓦类型学的核心特征。在内容层面，它们与关于伊斯兰临终伦理的国际文献一致。英文逊尼派电子法特瓦构成了一个有影响力且因此重要的关于临终伦理的伊斯兰正统规范性权威的发展中的主体，仍有待进一步研究。
