Faust and the new idolaters: Reflections on shirk

We are accustomed to hearing that modern secularized humanity rejects the sovereignty of God in favour of inferior, purely human powers and realities. Yet this new idolatory (shirk) is typically unintentional. It is not identical in character to the intentional idolatry of a Faust who consciously repudiates God for the sake of a purely natural or human ideal. There are minimal conditions for (successfully) committing the sin of idolatry; and the central one is potentially conscious belief in the true divinity. Can one meaningfully accuse the modern rejector of idolatry, given that he rejects the very outlook presupposed by the accusation?     

THE DUTY TO FEED IN CASES OF ADVANCED DEMENTIA

Cases of dementia present us with difficult ethical dilemmas as we strive to care for those unable to care for themselves. In this article, I review the relevant Islamic texts on caring for the ill, alleviating suffering, and feeding the hungry—all in light of the modern clinical environment. I find that the ethical appropriateness of tube feeding at the end of life is not as clear‐cut as it may seem. My analysis, however, suggests that Muslim scholars ought to favor insertion of a feeding tube in patients who can no longer respond to assisted feeding. Nonetheless, several important issues require further clarification in this clinically important but neglected area of ethical inquiry.