Islamic Bioethical Perspectives of Genetic Counselling

The high rate of new-borns with genetic disorders is causing increasing concerns for health authorities, including many Muslim-majority countries, especially those in the Gulf region. Being born with genetic disorders significantly impacts the affected children’s health, well-being, and general quality of life of their families and society. Prevention and management methods such as genetic tests and screenings (e.g., premarital screening, pre-implantation, prenatal, and neonatal tests) and the associated genetic counselling services can significantly mitigate or reduce a wide range of difficulties in this regard. Although genetic testing and counselling have become increasingly crucial worldwide, they are still emerging in the Arab world, especially the Gulf region. For a religio-culturally sensitive management of these tests and genetic counselling services in the Muslim majority countries, proper attention should be paid to the Islamic values at hand. Thus, examining these issues from an Islamic ethical perspective is critical to contribute to add to the body of literature already present in the Arab world.

In this context, this thesis provides an analytical overview and analysis of the Islamic bioethical perspective on the issues pertinent to genetic counselling, being one of the effective approaches to reducing the burdens of genetic disorders and resulting disabilities. The study employs an interdisciplinary approach to synthesize the mainstream principles of genetic counselling and the Islamic bioethical perspectives. The research examines the need for genetic counselling and, the challenges in the practices. Various publications about genetic counselling from Islamic perspectives serve as essential resources to understand the Islamic context, values and practices. The perspectives of Muslim authors and biomedical scientists provide comparisons with secular bioethical discourses. Furthermore, the study provides an synopsis of the genetic counselling service in Qatar while appraising the M.Sc. program of genetic counselling at Qatar University as one of the national strategic frameworks for preventive health and future health management.

Besides contributing to the academic scholarship in this emerging research area, this study provides religio-culturally analyses and insights that can help healthcare policymaker regarding genetic counselling practices and professional policies.