ABSTRACT
Juridical councils that render rulings on bioethical issues for Muslims living in non-Muslim lands may have limited familiarity with the foundational concept of wilayah (authority and governance) and its implications for their authority and functioning. This paper delineates a Sunni Maturidi perspective on the concept of wilayah, describes how levels of wilayah correlate to levels of responsibility and enforceability, and describes the implications of wilayah when applied to Islamic bioethical decision making. Muslim health practitioners and patients living in the absence of political wilayah may be tempted to apply pragmatic and context-focused approaches to address bioethical dilemmas without a full appreciation of significant implications in the afterlife. Academic wilayah requires believers to seek authentication of uncertain actions through scholarly opinions. Fulfilling this academic obligation naturally leads to additional mutually beneficial discussions between Islamic scholars, healthcare professionals, and patients. Furthermore, an understanding derived from a Maturidi perspective provides a framework for Islamic scholars and Muslim health care professionals to generate original contributions to mainstream bioethics and public policy discussions.
