Tissue engineering practices and the issue of “playing God”: a yheological exposition

Mohd. Azharuddin, Nur Syamimi and Ahmad Radzi, Muhammad Aa'zamuddin and Azhim, Azran and Sha'ban, Munirah and Hashi, Abdurezak Abdulahi and UNSPECIFIED (2018) Tissue engineering practices and the issue of “playing God”: a yheological exposition. In: World Congress of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, Inc. (TERMIS), September 4-7, 2018, Kyoto, Japan. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Over the years, the modern scientific discoveries have been introduced, if not reproached, with the term “playing God”, particularly in the emerging and growing field of biomedical and biotechnology researches. Primarily, the term was pointed at the activities of end-of-life decisions among healthcare personnel and only in the recent times the term made into the theological discussion involving various technologies produced by mankind, including tissue engineering. Often the critics aim to demonstrate how certain approaches of science transgress the limits of man and cross fixed boundaries establishing a certain order in the natural world. There are very little discussions, if any, regarding the concepts of tissue engineering from the view of Islamic theology, particularly on the issue whether the attempt of reconstructing or regenerating human body part substitutes equals to the mortal man taking the roles, functions or tasks of God. Islam, as a way of life, welcomes any efforts for the betterment of mankind. This is based on the driven values of life preservation and harm reduction. Islam believes that the power to create things out of nothing, creatio ex nihilo, belongs to the Almighty God alone whilst the act of man reconstructing functional organs or tissues in tissue engineering field is a different form of creation. Man recreates something out of something else while God creates something from nothing. The authors thanked the Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan Campus, and Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Research Team, IIUM for their support. The authors also expressed their gratitude to Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia for providing Transdisciplinary Grant Scheme TRGS16-02-003-0003.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)
Additional Information:	7380/68920
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Tissue engineering; "Playing God"; Yheological; Exposition
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc > BP1 Islam > BP166 Theology (Kalam) Q Science > Q Science (General) > Q128 Islam and Science
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Science > Department of Biotechnology
Depositing User:	DR ABDUREZAK ABDULAHI HASHI
Date Deposited:	11 Jan 2019 10:48
Last Modified:	11 Jan 2019 10:48
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/68920

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