Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Life Support Systems? |
|---|
| bhaloo |
| 06/29/01 at 10:40:49 |
| slm I've been a little busy the last few days and today is another busy day. An uncle (poopa) of mine is in the hostpital because of a massive heart attack. His arteries are all blocked, except for one that is 99% blocked. To top it off he has an ulcer and blood was coming out of his mouth, and now there is an infection. His breathing and heart are being pumped by machines. I think they were saying that his heart is only doing 10% of the work (I probably didn't understand what was said clearly). Anyways I was just wondering about the machines and how do they fit into things islamically? Maybe someone can explain to me what the machines actually do and how they work. Oh and if someone has some words of wisdom I can say to the family, that would be very beneficial, insha'Allah. I did come across this fatawa on Islam-qa.com Many doctors hesitate to decide the right time to turn off the life support systems of a person who is clinically dead. The doctor has two conflicting feelings: he may think that he is prolonging the agony of the dying person, and that if he turns of fthe life support system, he will be giving the person the relief of dying. On the other hand, however, he fears that by turning the life support systems off, he is depriving the person of the opportunity to continue living. When is it permissible to turn off the life support systems in the case of people who are clinically dead? Praise be to Allaah. In sharee’ah, a person is considered to be dead and therefore subject to all the rulings concerning the deceased, when either of the two following signs are noted: When his heartbeat and breathing stop completely, and the doctors decide that they cannot be restarted. When all the functions of his brain stop completely, and experienced doctors and specialists state that this is irreversible, and his brain has started to disintegrate. In these circumstances, it is permissible to turn off life support systems, even if some parts of his body – such as the heart, for example – are still functioning artificially with the help of these machines. Majma’ al-Fiqh al-Islami, p. 36. |
| NS |
Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author.The rest © Jannah.Org |