Introduction: Zika virus infection is caused by flavivirus virus and spread by Aedes mosquitoes. Since first report-ed in 1947, it spread to various countries especially in the equatorial region including Malaysia. The infection is non-fatal to an adult. However, the major risk of its infection is towards unborn baby when the mother is infected. The vertical transmission to the foetus possess various risks include the teratogenic effect that may lead to elective abortion. Thus, the objectives of this review are to discover about Zika virus and its effect on pregnant women and to evaluate Islamic perspective about elective abortion of Zika virus-infected women. Methods: This review was done through reviewing evidence from the journals, books and reports. The data were reviewed thematically according to the objectives. Results: Studies shown that Zika virus may cause miscarriage, preterm birth, microcephaly and other malformation known as Congenital Zika syndrome. This leads to a demand for elective abortion which raised Islamic ethical issue if it is permissible. In Islam, abortion is extremely prohibited once the foetus reached 120-day of con-ception unless it causes harm to the mother’s life. But, if the foetus age is less than 120-day, abortion is permissible when the pregnancy affects the mother’s health. Abortion due to foetal microcephaly and congenital malformation is prohibited. Conclusion: Effort must be taken to prevent the spread of Zika virus to reduce the need for an elective abortion through an education Muslim community regarding elective abortion.
Introduction:Tropical herbs are used as a medicine long before the introduction of modern medicine, especially by traditional healers. However, its’ scientific benefits are not widely investigated. There is a belief that the use of tradi-tional herbs potentially causing health deterioration due to its unknown mechanism of actions and interactions, and the nature of its unregulated processing as a health supplement. Parkia speciosa (local: petai) and Pithecellobium jir-inga (local: jering) are two tropical herbs from the Leguminosae family that are widely used raw as salads with many perceived health benefits and harms. We reviewed both species, looking into scientific pieces of evidence supporting the belief. Methods: The databases of MEDLINE, PubMed, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholars were systematically searched for both in vitro and in vivo effects of both species with no language restriction. Data were extracted using standardised fashioned. Results:P speciosa has pharmacological properties including antioxidant and anti-inflam-mation. It has shown to have antibacterial properties and glucose-lowering activity. P jiringa contains known an-tioxidant metabolites such as flavonoids, phenolics and terpenoids. It also contains antiangiogenic properties with potential use in retinopathy, cancer, and Rheumatoid arthritis. However, both herbs have potentially harmful effects which include liver injuries. Large consumption of P jiringa leads to acute kidney injury. Conclusion: Consumption of both P speciosa and P jiringa has medicinal properties as well as health harm. If taken as a supplement, rigorous clinical trials are needed to delineate benefit vs harm effect of both herbs.