By Abdullahi Jamaa
The Kenya Association of Muslim Medical Professionals (KAMMP) has today held its first international conference in the coastal city of Mombasa in a rare attempt to sensitize its members on Islam and medicine.
The conference with the theme ‘Modern Day Medicine and Ethical Dilemmas’ sought to address Muslim doctors and other medical practitioners in a bid to align medical practice with Islamic Shariah.
The chairman of KAMMP Dr. Mahamud Adan said the purpose of the symposium is to enlighten their members regarding the relationship between Islam and medicine during this era of contemporary science.
“This therefore calls for a conscious striving on our part to be aware of principles of Islamic medical ethics in relation to our practice such that medical practice is aligned with Sharia” Dr. Adan said
He said medical technology is evolving at a first pace and that Muslim doctors and practitioners must not be left behind by the current scientific advancement that continues to make strides every passing year.
“The use of stem cells, or treatment of infertility through IVF, the issue of surrogate motherhood and use of bio products from non-halal sources are some of the contentious issues Muslim medics have to overcome along with many more grey areas” he said.
He said environment within hospitals also required far-reaching changes that must be aligned within the tenets Islamic ethics in a bid to serve Muslim patients in accordance with their religion.
“The hospital environment is not so conducive for our patients to practice Ibadah. This is coupled with the fact that most of us assume a medics role only and forget about the spiritual Islamic component of advising, guiding and providing an enabling environment for our sick patients”
The two-day conference attracted speakers from as far as Sudan as Muslim doctors plan to advance their professionalism and Islamic medical values.
Discussions and presentations were vivid and lively as participants and speakers assessed how modern day health behaviors and healthcare experiences are shaped by Islam and mobilizing that knowledge towards the development of evidence-based Islamically-tailored medical interventions.
The controversial Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was one of the hard topics the conference speakers addressed with Islamic scholars highlighting Quranic and prophetic rulings regarding the age-old practice.
It was an event that brought together Muslim medical doctors, surgeons, nurses, clinical and public health officers and Islamic scholars for interdisciplinary dialogue and discussion.
The health conference also addressed the place of medicine in Islam with guest speaker Dr. Islam Muhamad bringing into close scrutiny the role of doctors in respect to Islamic jurisprudence.
“The first perspective is the fact that medicine is considered in Islam as one of the foundation of Tawhid and a discipline that shows Allah’s oneness” Said Dr. Islam
“We can safely and confidently say that it is through medicine that people are able to understand Tawhid (Islamic monotheism) “if there is anybody who understands Tawhid, it is a doctor”
The conference that was held at Mombasa’s Whitesand hotel is a first in a string of local and international functions that the association endeavors to conduct in order to build the capacity of Muslim medical practitioners.
