Assalaamu alaykum

The scientific presentations at the last IMANA conference, held in Istanbul, Turkey, were very informative. Approximately 170 members attended the meeting and benefitted from these presentations. What about the remainder of IMANA membership? Should not the presenters spend a little more time and effort and put their presentations in the format of manuscripts to be published in JIMA so that they will be available to all members and enable them to benefit from the expertise of their colleagues? This will also make their presentations accessible to all those who explore the internet, as the articles are posted online on at the JIMA web site, jima.imana.org. In this issue, our new president, Dr. Abida Haque, addresses the membership enumerating the achievements and future plans of IMANA. We all should express our thanks to her and the other executive committee members for their work for the advancement of IMANA and pray to Allah جل جلاله for guidance and bles s ing their work. We also publish a position paper issued by IMANA’s Public Health Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Mohamed Haq, on the need to eliminate second-hand smoking from Islamic campuses. In this issue, Drs. Rhami Khorfan and Aasim Padela discuss in detail the permissibility of abortion when the pregnant woman’s life is in danger. Abortion for this indication is acceptable in Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam. However, in Catholicism this permissibility is limited to situations where sacrificing fetal life is an indirect result of the procedure, for example removing the fallopian tube in tubal pregnancy or abortion complicating a surgical procedure for treatment of a potentially fatal condition for example appendicitis, peritonitis. The authors focus on the process of bioethical deliberation in these three religious traditions and discuss the different concepts that each of these faith groups uses to justify abortion in this circumstance. Islamic scholars differ to some extent on what situations make abortion before 120 days of conception, that is 19 weeks after the first day of the last menstrual period, permissible. However, they all agree that it is prohibited after 120 days. The only exception is when the woman’s life is in peril. With modern advances in maternal fetal medicine, this situation is fortunately becoming very rare. In many cases, the pregnancy can be allowed to continue to 23-24 menstrual weeks, and, with advances in neonatology, newborns delivered at this gestational age have a fair chance of survival. It is to be noted that delivery at >20 weeks is officially termed preterm delivery and not abortion. Drs. Abdul Basit and Mohamed Hamid discuss the prevalence of mental health problems in Muslim Americans and how their incidences differ from other Americans. They state that currently all major schools of psychotherapy reflect the religious, ethical, and cultural heritage of Western society. The authors stress that, as a consequence, the methods developed in the West may not be always suitable and effective for Muslim Americans. They stress the need to establish more multicultural and multilingual centers that are tailored to address the mental health of Muslim Americans. Dr. Thalia Arawi from Beirut, Lebanon, believes that Muslim physicians should be exemplary in the realm of medical ethics, patient care, and physician patient relationships, provided they abide by Qur’anic injunctions and the Prophet’s Sunnah (tradition). She cites many Qur’anic verses regarding morality, character, and other virtues. Muslims also have the perfect example of human behavior in the person of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. S he emphas izes the need to include character evaluation in admis s ion criteria to medical s chools and continuing tha t e va lua tion throughout the me dica l s chool years . In this issue we publish an account of an Islamic charity clinic. It is the second largest Muslim-run charity clinic in the United State. The Muslim Community Center Clinic is located in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Shaukat Ashai details its history and gradual growth in space, staff, and services. What started as a primary care clinic became a multispecialty facility. The original all-volunteer staff now Assalaamu alaykum Message from the Editor