عربي
Home


Resolutions of Iftaa' Board


Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No. (117): "The Avoidance of Patient Positioning on Life Support Equipment as regards Hopeless Cases"

Date Added : 28-10-2015

Resolution No.(117): "The Avoidance of Patient Positioning on Life Support Equipment as regards Hopless Cases"

Date: 18/9/1427 AH, corresponding to 11/10/2006 AD.

 

The board received the following question:

 

Is it permissible for a medical team not to place a cancer patient on life support equipment, or a respirator, or to carry out renal dialysis for him/her if it has confirmed with certainty that such procedures are hopeless?

 

Answer: All success is due to Allah

 

The Board is of the view that it is permissible not to position a cancer patient on life support equipment, or a respiratory system, or dialysis machine if the treating team has confirmed and is certain that such procedures are hopeless (1) This is if this decision is backed by a report of an expert medical team comprising from three specialized, honorable, and trustworthy doctors, at least.

This is because patient positioning on the above system, or administering direct renal dialysis doesn`t help in his recovery, and neither hasten nor delay his death, because death is in the Hands of Allah Alone.  Allah The Almighty Says (what means): "But never will Allah delay a soul when its time [of death] has come. And Allah is acquainted with what you do." [Al-Munafiqun/11]. 

 

Evidence on the permissibility of refraining from treating such hopeless cases is what happened to Umar Bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) when he was stabbed in the mosque.  A drink made from dates was brought to him (2), which he drank, but it came out of a wound in his abdomen, then milk was brought to him, which he drank, and it came out of a wound in his abdomen as well, and then the people knew that treating him was hopeless because he was considered dead, and so they gave up on him. This indicates that when a patient is in a state of clinical death, he takes the ruling of a dead person. And Allah Knows Best.

 

Iftaa` Board

Head of the Iftaa` Board

                  Chief Justice / Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Hilayil

             Sheikh Abd al-Kareem al-Khusaawinah    

       Dr. Yusuf Ali Ghaythan

             Sheikh Saeed Abd al-Hafiz al-Hijawi        

Dr. Wasif al-Bakri

     Dr. Yaser al-Shamali

 

 

 

(1) The patient himself has the right to abstain from treatment if he is content with what Allah has decreed for him (namely, death), and prefers patience to treatment, but it is not permissible for a doctor to withhold treatment from a patient under the pretext that it is useless, since life and death are in Allah's hand.

(2) Wine: is a sweetened water with some dates for the purpose of being tasteful similar to juice, but not an intoxicated wine.

 

Decision Number [ Previous | Next ]


Summarized Fatawaa

Can a person required to give kaffarah feed it to their own family members?

The kaffarah must be given to the poor and needy who are not financially dependent on the one giving the kaffarah.
If a person feeds it to their own family members, it does not count as kaffarah, and their obligation remains unfulfilled.

Is Zakah (obligatory charity) due on the Zakah money received by a poor person, and reached a Nissab (minimum amount liable for Zakah), and a whole lunar year had lapsed over having it in his possession?

Yes, the poor who possessed a Nissab for a whole lunar year is obliged to pay the Zakah due on that money even if it was given to him as a Zakah money in the first place. And Allah Knows Best.

"I told my family at night: 'I will fast tomorrow as qaḍā' (a make-up fast),' but I forgot to make the intention before sleeping. Is my fast valid?"

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
 
The intention is obligatory in acts of worship. For obligatory fasting, the required intention is to resolve to fast during the night [before dawn]. Its proper locus is the heart, while verbalizing the intention out loud in acts of worship is a sunnah — so that the tongue may align with the heart. If the intent behind the statement in question was the intention to fast, then it is valid; but if the intent was merely to inform someone, or reflected hesitation or doubt, then it is not valid.
 
It is stated in *Bushrā al-Karīm* (Vol.1/P.216): "It is a sunnah to verbalize the intention — that is, whatever has already been intended in the heart, whether an obligatory or a voluntary act — such as specifying the number of rak‘ahs, just before the opening takbīr — so that the tongue may assist the heart, and because this is further removed from whispered doubts (waswasah), and in order to accommodate the view of those who held it obligatory in every act of worship that requires an intention (even though this is a minority position), by analogy with Ḥajj."
 
Accordingly: if the intention to fast arose in your heart before the second adhān [i.e., before Fajr], then your fast is valid.
 
And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

What is the ruling on praying behind a disliked Imam?

 

 
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
It is mildly disliked (Makruh Tanzihan) for a man—other than the permanent designated Imam (Imam Ratib)—to lead people in prayer if the majority of them dislike him due to a religiously blameworthy reason (Amr Madhmum Shar‘an), such as associating with open sinners (Fussaq), for example. As for the followers who dislike him, the prayer behind him is not disliked for them. However, if less than the majority dislike him, or if the majority dislike him for a reason that is not religiously blameworthy, then his leading the prayer is not disliked. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

See More