A Doctor's Responsibilities

In yesterdays post I explained that the Palestinian psychiatrist, Dr. Iyad Zaqout is wrong for what he is doing. Today I want to show you a little bit of my reasoning why he is wrong. There are many moral and ethical violations he commits when he supports terrorism. There are those that will say, however, that his cause is justified. It is to such people that this post is dedicated. Below I bring you the Physician's Oath, by the Islamic Code of Medical Ethics, which was adopted in January 1981:


-I swear by God, The Great;

-To regard God in carrying out my profession;

-To protect human life in all stages and under all circumstances, doing my utmost to rescue it from death, malady, pain, and anxiety;

-To keep people's dignity, cover their privacies and lock up their secrets;

-To be, all the way, an instrument of God's mercy, extending my medical care to near and far, virtuous and sinner and friend and enemy;

-To strive in the pursuit of knowledge and harnessing it for the benefit but not the harm of mankind;

-To revere my teacher, teach my junior, and be brother to members of the medical profession joined in piety and charity;

-To live my Faith in private and in public, avoiding whatever blemishes me in the eyes of God, His apostle and my fellow Faithful;

-And may God be witness to this Oath.

Nowhere in this oath does it mention the fact that during an "intifada going on [and] incidents are escalating" is it permitted to kill others. This "doctor's" actions not only run contrary to most normal, humane societies, it is also contrary to Islamic medical ethics.