Islamic Ethics of Life ― Abortion, War, and Euthanasia

Brockopp (religious studies, Pennsylvania State U.) presents nine studies that examine Muslim responses to the ethics of taking and saving life as embodied in discussions of abortion, war, and euthanasia. Each issue is tackled separately, with sections looking at Islamic treatments of the question in past and contemporary eras. Unlike far too many Western treatments of the broader subject, chapters admit varying strands in Islamic thought and tradition. Although two of the issues picked are seen by the editor to be more of concern to Western ethicists, he argues that the project is necessary to fill a gap in comparative ethics and religion studies. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)