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- Title
Cinsiyet Gelişim Bozukluklarında İslam Hukukçularının Dayandıkları Etik İlkeler: Psikolojik Komplikasyonların Engellenmesinden Tıbbî Bakım Standartlarına.
- Authors
Doğan, Mine
- Abstract
Determining or assigning the sex of a newborn baby can be a complicated matter. Those with a male chromosomal structure may look like a typical woman, and those with a female chromosomal structure may look like a typical male, or people may have ambiguous external genitalia. The phenomenon referred to by terms such as Disorders of Sex Development (DSD), hermaphroditism, and intersexuality has become a subject of interdisciplinary inquiry, engaging fields such as medicine, theology, law, philosophy, and ethics. This article discusses disorders of sex development according to Islamic bioethics. The aim of the article is to reveal Islam's ethical approach to disorders of sex development through the example of Islamic law. Disorders of sex development have been carefully addressed by Islamic jurists since the early periods, and ethical values were also considered in regulating rulings for individuals with DSD. Considering that ethical discussions about disorders of sex development are shaped according to the medical conjuncture of each period, the ethical approach to DSD in classical Islamic law was shaped in the context of protecting human dignity and privacy. For example, in cases where it is necessary to look at the external genital organs of a person with DSD, it was decided to purchase a concubine (jariya). Considering that according to Islamic law, the marriage of an individual with DSD whose sex has not been assigned is not allowed, it is aimed to protect the human dignity and privacy of the individuals with DSD by assigning the task of sex assignment and circumcision to the concubine. According to classical Islamic law, the two institutions that create privacy for looking at the external genital organs of the opposite sex are marriage and having a concubine. These Islamic rulings may imply that, depending on the medical conditions of the period, the ethical approach to DSD in classical Islamic law was shaped mostly to prevent psychological complications. Over time, with advancements in medicine allowing for the removal of tissues associated with the opposite sex from the bodies of individuals with DSD, a significant shift occurred in Islamic ethical values. In this context, contemporary Islamic jurists have focused on ethical values such as the Islamic rulings of sex correction surgeries, the evidence for permissibility (halal status) of these surgeries, the necessary parameters for the religious legitimacy of these procedures, and the doctrine of informed consent. In other words, the ethical approach, which initially focused on preventing psychological complications, evolved into the development of standards of medical care for DSD. This shift in the ethical approach of Islamic law regarding disorders of sex development emphasizes the importance of the medical context in the ethical discussions surrounding DSD. While contemporary Islamic jurists were investigating the ruling of sex correction operations, they questioned whether there was a medical indication for surgical interventions performed under DSD conditions. Contemporary Islamic jurists who accept disorders of sex development (DSD) as an anomaly occurring during the prenatal period have ruled that sex correction surgeries are permissible (halal) as part of medical treatment. They have used some evidence to achieve this result: these surgical operations are considered part of medical treatment; they do not cause deformity to the body, thus not violating the dignity of the human body, and they align with the higher interests (maslahahs) of preserving life and lineage. However, sex correction operations are not considered unlimitedly halal in Islamic ethics. A number of parameters have been established to ensure the Islamic legitimacy of sex correction operations. For example, in order to perform sex correction operations, parameters required, such as the sex must be definitively unclear, there must be a medical indication for the surgery, and the operation should be considered a last resort. In contemporary Islamic ethics, the doctrine of informed consent is highly valued in sex correction surgeries. In this context, contemporary Islamic jurists demand that, regardless of the outcome, the physician must completely inform the individual with DSD or, if the individual is incompetent, his/her parents. Thus, it may be said that the autonomy of individuals with DSD is valued as an extension of the principle of informed consent in Islamic ethics. As a result, this article argues that ethical values have been considered in regulating religious rulings related to disorders of sex development in Islamic law since its early periods. It positions the shifts in the ethical approach under DSD conditions in classical and contemporary Islamic law within the context of the changing medical conjuncture.
- Subjects
SEX differentiation disorders; ISLAMIC ethics; CHROMOSOME structure; ISLAMIC law; GENITALIA; DIGNITY; INFORMED consent (Medical law)
- Publication
Journal of Faculty of Theology, Sakarya University / Sakarya Üniversitesi Ilahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 2024, Vol 26, Issue 50, p465
- ISSN
2146-9806
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.17335/sakaifd.1527645