Sheikh `Abd al-Rahmân b. Ahmad al-Jar`î
Many Islamic scholarly organizations have investigated the matter of brain death and the permissibility of removing life support from a patient who is medically determined to be brain dead.
The issue has also been taken up at a number of international conferences, some of which had been convened for the purpose of exploring this question. Resolutions have been passed on a number of occasions permitting the removal of life support in the event of brain death.
Among these is the resolution that was passed by the Islamic Law Council of the Muslim World League at its 10th conference convened on October 18, 1987. The attendees reviewed numerous medical reports asserting that certain knowledge of the occurrence of death can be taken from a number of unquestionable indicators. They then brought to the table the question of terminating life support for such patients and heard various opinions. The reports and verbal testimony presented to the conference by medical professionals were provided by the Saudi Ministry of Health. Other specialist doctors were also invited to attend. The attendees also reviewed and discussed a resolution issued the previous year by the Organization of the Islamic Conference at their convention that took place in Amman, Jordan.
After a thorough review, the Islamic Law Council of the Muslim World League came to the following conclusion:
It is permissible to remove from life support a patient whose life is sustained artificially by respirators or other forms of life support in the event that the patient suffers a termination of all brain functions and a committee of no less than three specialized doctors determine that there is no possibility of the resumption of brain activity.
It is permissible in this case to remove the patient from life support, even if the heart and respiratory system continue to operate under artificial control. However, the patient will not be considered deceased in an Islamic legal sense until the time that the heart and respiratory system stop functioning completely after the removal of life support.
For comparison, we can look at the earlier resolution passed by the Islamic Law Council of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which was as follows [Resolution 17 (3/5)]:
The Islamic Law Council, in this third convention held in Amman, Jordan from 11-16 October 1986 – and after examining from every angle the question of life support, and after hearing the detailed testimony of specialist doctors – has arrived at the following resolutions:
It is deemed in Islamic Law that the person has died and that all the Islamic legal rulings pertaining to death are applicable in the event of one of the following:
1. The heart and respiratory functions cease completely and the doctor’s determine that such functions will not resume.
2. All brain functions cease completely and specialist doctor’s determine that such functions will not resume and that the brain has begun to deteriorate.
Under such circumstances it is permissible to remove the patient from life support, even if some organs – such as the heart, for instance – continue to function under the artificial control of life support.
We can see that there clearly is only one real difference between these two resolutions. According to the Islamic Law Council of the Muslim World League, the patient is not considered legally dead until the heart and respiratory functions come to an end after the removal of life support. By contrast, according to the Islamic Law Council of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the patient is considered to be legally dead once all brain functioning has ceased, even if the patient’s heart continues to beat under artificial control.
Source:
www.islamtoday.net
