THE MODEL OF IJTIHAD IN FATWAS RELATED TO HEALTH CARE IN SINGAPORE

For Muslims, Islamic law or shariah is seen as the expression of God’s
command for Muslims and, in application, constitutes a system of duties that are incumbent upon them. As human knowledge and technology progresses, activities related to health care expanded in line with the needs of communities and societies.For minority Muslims living and working within a dynamic environment in Singapore, there is a constant need for religious guidance especially when faced with a problem or issue that is new and complex and may not have prior reference
in previous sources of Islamic law. Fatwas play a critical role in providing the direction and guidance for the community to adapt to changing circumstances. Hence, the objective of the study is to analyse the model of ijtihad for fatwas related to health care in Singapore.
This normative legal research is based on a qualitative approach. The stud aims to analyse the framework or model on ijtihad in fatwas related to health care in Singapore. The descriptive-inductivist-deductive approach is used to first construct a framework, and followed by an actual model or system of ijtihad for fatwas related to health care in Singapore.
The results of the study demonstrated that there is a structured system in ijtihadto derive fatwa decisions related to health care. Ethics is an emergent component in analysis of factors and derivation of a ruling. Maqasid shariah and maslahah are the common objectives and this resulted in fatwas that are complete, balanced, and dynamic in response to contextual, situational, and environmental factors and stimuli. The model of ijtihad for fatwas related to health care is based on the
principle of first, prevention, avoidance, minimization and elimination of harm (to society and tenets of shariah, followed by deriving maslahah or dar’ul mafasid muqaddamun ala jalbul masalih.