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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Islam & euthanasia |
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| Ember |
| 03/24/05 at 12:13:33 |
| I'm sure that most of you have been following Terri Schiavo's case. Someone who works with me asked me what I would want if I was in the same situation. My initial reaction was, 'if I'm brain dead I might want to have the plug pulled' but if I was conscious I would not want to. I know that Islam does not allow any form of suicide but what is the view on euthanasia ??? In this day and age it would be good to know these things, so that we can be prepared for anything. |
| Re: Islam & euthanasia |
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| gift |
| 04/01/05 at 04:15:54 |
| [slm] I think the problem with euthanasia cases is that each one is so different. For example, in Terry Schiavo's case her husband made the final bid to have the feeding tube removed - yet he has a new partner with whom he has started a family. Which makes me question whether he is the right person to be making that kind of decision anymore? What about the fact that Terry seemed to be responding to her mother's voice - even though this was 1 in 99 movements or something? I don't think a general view in such cases is very helpful, because each case has its own extremely complicating factors. ??? |
| Re: Islam & euthanasia |
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| Caraj |
| 04/01/05 at 13:17:00 |
| This case too has been weighing heavily on my mind. My heart aches for the parents. I too think when the husband has another partner he is no longer the one to make the choices. Now he wants to have her cremated instead of allowing her family to bury her. This is sad and cruel. News says he is not even letting the parents know where her ashes will be scattered. The whole thing sounds very very weird to me. Had it been me, I would of allowed the parents to bury their child, I would of allowed them in the decision making. Had I a new partner I would of let go. So many rumors of his not allowing so much. Rumors on Allah knows which are and are not true. What does Islam say about removing a feeding tube? Can someone shed some light on this? If this case speaks to your heart, don't let Terri's death be in vain. Begin speaking to your families, parents, spouses and such now about your wishes should something like this happen to you. If you want the plug pulled, how long after you become like this? If you cannot afford an attorney there are pc applications to download papers, have them notorized. Heck write a letter and have it notorized in duplicate. I don't know if it would stand up in court as I am not legal expert. But at least there would be something there saying what you want. So many questions.....so little answers :'( |
| Re: Islam & euthanasia |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 04/02/05 at 20:01:22 |
| [slm] The issues raised in the Schiavo case are multiple and complex, and I hesitate to comment on it out of fear of speaking without knowledge; these issues should be addressed on a case by case basis, by a scholar, taking into account the unique context and circumstances of the case. An attempt to make blanket statements and generalizations, as was sadly done by supporters of both sides, is both unrealistically simplistic and ethically irresponsible. My comments below are based on my own understanding and research into these issues, in large part derived from review of the multiple symposiums and conferences on fiqh held by the ulama’ over the past twenty five years. Alhamdulillah, the Islamic view regarding the majority of “controversial” bioethical issues of the day, is fairly clear, and to my knowledge there has been no difference of opinion regarding euthanasia (administration of medication (or any other thing) on the part of the physician that will induce death in the patient) or physician-assisted suicide (providing the means to induce death to the patient, but the patient administers it him/herself). Both are disallowed. Morally speaking, the former is homicide on the part of the physician and the latter is suicide on the part of the patient. Withdrawing treatment, or nkt offering treatment to begin with, particularly when it is not curative, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter. Much of the confusion derives from the poor use of terminology. Some people call withdrawing treatment “passive euthanasia”; in my opinion we as Muslims should avoid this term because it is misleading and implies the induction of death when this is not necessarily the case. The colloquial term of “pulling the plug”, as popular as it is, needs to be thrown out, because it seriously oversimplifies and misrepresents the constellation of treatments that make up what the layperson calls “life support”. Moreover, its emotive implications are misleading. In most circumstances, withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment which is not curative (i.e it will not correct the patient’s underlying disease) is not the cause of the patient’s death. Rather, the patient’s native illness is the underlying cause. That difference, for example, has allowed the scholars to issue fatawa on a number of end of life issues, such as in the withdrawal of life-support and in advance directives (i.e do not rescuscitate aka DNR orders), in select cases. Each case is of course unique; a DNR in one case may be permissible but in another it may not be. In the case of brain death, this is a very complex issue, and one of the major sticking points in the Schiavo case. And again, we must be careful to understand the terms involved. In the case of complete brain death, which entails death of the brain stem (which controls the life-sustaining functions of the body such as breathing) this has been understood to be clinical death by both the medical profession and the ulama for many years. This is pretty clear-cut, and there are numerous symposiums of fiqh held as far back as the 1980’s which discuss this. The difficulty arises in so-called higher brain death, where the brain stem remains viable enough for the person’s heart and breathing and other autonomic functions to function on their own, but their higher brain function is seriously impaired or lost completely. The persistent vegetative state falls within this spectrum of higher brain death, often characterized with wakefulness without awareness. The controversies in the Schiavo case were in part due to differences about whether she was truly within the persistent vegetative state or not. Wakefullness does not necessarily mean consciousness for example; if she was truly in a PVS then all those actions were involuntary reflexes. That was of course hotly debated and needless to say, there is an inherent uncertainty in the different levels of higher brain death. To my knowledge, as of now, unlike brain stem death, we have yet to see the issues relating to higher brain death fully addressed by a council or symposium of the ulama in a way that its verdicts are available to be made known to the general Muslim public. Relating to the higher brain death issue, the institution of artificial feeding and hydration is another issue which I feel has not yet been fully addressed. Does artificial feeding fall within the scope of normal nourishment, which is one of the natural rights of a human being? Does it constitute medical “treatment” or is it different from treatment? In my own understanding of the fiqh issues involved, how we define artificial feeding and hydration could either allow for its removal or mandate its continuance. That’s how crucial the definition of artificial feeding is. Inshallah, our ulama will be able to shed light on these issues. May Allah guide them. As laypersons, we should be extremely wary interpreting these issues without the guidance of our ulama and medical professionals. Again, I think we should stress that the Schiavo case is an extraordinary and rare one, and it just so happens that the dilemmas present within it are among the very few remaining equivocal issues in Islamic bioethics. The majority of issues are relatively clear, alhamdulillah. And Allah knows best. [slm] ;-) |
| Re: Islam & euthanasia |
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| jannah |
| 04/09/05 at 00:02:44 |
| slm, just head a talk about this in-depth today.. inshaAllah will be post about it later in case anyone is interested. |
| Re: Islam & euthanasia |
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| bhaloo |
| 04/10/05 at 09:51:35 |
| [slm] When I was younger, I used to think euthanasia was actually "Youth in Asia", now I know better. [quote author=jannah link=board=lighthouse;num=1111684414;start=0#4 date=04/09/05 at 00:02:44] just head a talk about this in-depth today.. inshaAllah will be post about it later in case anyone is interested.[/quote] Hey, its later, post it up, I'm interested to hear about this topic in detail. |
| Re: Islam & euthanasia |
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| jannah |
| 04/11/05 at 02:26:53 |
| wlm, i'll give u some main points as i understood them... - the main gist of the talk is that we have an excessive focus on dunya , we lost the desire to go to akhirah and now go to extreme lengths to fight death using all these complex procedures and drugs that are really going to an extreme. we are so afraid to go away because we have accumulated so many things here we are so attached to them. whatever happenned to people dying at home and not on a machine. for example there are 80 year olds undergoing triple bypass surgeries...why? i mean the person has lived a full and long life he is supposed to die naturally and this isn't our home.. we are here temporarily and should want to go back to our real home....Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him/her. - it's also important to remember that in islam long illnesses give people the chance for dhikr, tauba, istighfar.. it's a means of expiation for one's sins. The prophet (s) said Do not curse fever it is how Allah atones the sins of a believer. if ur all drugged up or incapicitated you can't make dhikr, istighfar or salah... can't go to Allah with imaan. - anyway in his ijtihadi opinion one cannot remove life support after the fact. it is the same as killing a person. no one has the right to take someone off life support once they are on it. because the person is still alive and no one knows what state they are in and if they are going to wake up. there are many stories of people who have woken up even a year or two or ten! and if someone "had pulled the plug" (sorry abdulbasir for the terminology) they would have effectively committed murder. it is arrogant to think one can predict/understand what is happenning in the unseen with the person. also there may be some who say well... "if God willed, when we pull the plug she would live" is wrong because that's like shooting someone in the head and saying "if God willed they would live". God has created the cause and effect in the world and these are His laws. - however, one can use a health directive (living will) to specify that one does not want the doctors to put them on life support. a question was asked about people who use life support temporarily and recover in a few weeks. he said there's really a difference when it's for say a appendix removal and a complex reoccuring heart problem. - he said that it is fine to refuse medicine that is above the 'normal standard'. this is not like "killing onself" because one is doing the norm they should. they can stay home and take the standard ilaaj. and it is Allah who gives the medicine the "effect" to work anyway. if a person ever gets to the point where they can't live without life support they can say no and it's allowed. they may wish to meet Allah with full imaan and conciousness.. (the frontier between standard and excessive becomes clearer with more knowledge) - on the question of if a person has written a will that says 'if i'm ever entered into life support etc take me off' ... he says he doesn't have enough evidence/knowledge to answer whether people can or not. ..but the pre-cautionary measure is to not wirthdraw. - someone asked about the definition of death in islam... he said at one time scholars thought this was when the heart stops.. then they thought it was when the brain was dead... then they said both.. but it's unclear by scholars currently and has to be taken on a case to case basis anyhow just some interesting things.... and Allah knows best |
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