Palliative Care and the Concept of Suffering: Islamic Ethical Perspectives

This study aims to understand how the concept of suffering is approached within the relatively new specialization of Palliative Care and its governing philosophy. This concept is further examined from within the Islamic tradition with the aim of showing how the ethical questions triggered by the Palliative Care approach can be addressed from an Islamic perspective. As far as the Islamic tradition is concerned, three main disciplines are the focus of this study, namely theology, Sufism and jurisprudence (Fiqh). The main goal is to examine how each discipline approached the concept of suffering, and to explore further how these diverse approaches can help addressing the ethical questions raised by Palliative Care.