
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sticking with What Works Sticking with What Works
-
Quest for the Good Quest for the Good
-
A Change of Heart A Change of Heart
-
Conclusions Conclusions
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Does Submission to God's Will Preclude Biotechnological Intervention? Lessons from Muslim Dialysis Patients in Contemporary Egypt
Get access-
Published:November 2012
Cite
Abstract
This chapter offers a critique of the (Orientalist-derived) notion of Islamic fatalism through an ethnographic study of devout Muslims in contemporary Egypt and their flexible attitudes concerning the will of God and the legitimacy of technological intervention in matters of medical therapy and health care. Focussing on several patients receiving regular kidney dialysis treatment in a hospital in Tanta, Egypt, the author documents the ambivalent ways devout Muslims respond to opportunities for organ transplantation, negotiating between their endorsement of official pronouncements made by leading Islamic scholars, their own interpretations of religious source texts, and the shifting material circumstances that make organ transplantation more or less available to them. The chapter concludes by arguing that the term “fatalism” obscures the subtlety and complexity of these negotiations, in so far as it (quite wrongly) presumes that divine will entails passivity or inaction on the part of religious devotees, rendering them incapable of redressing their medical ailments through biotechnological intervention, or of assessing such interventions through a calculated cost-benefit analysis.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
August 2024 | 1 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.