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Fatme is on life-sustaining treatment.
The only way to save her is through the
use of embryonic stem cells. To make
matters worse, she’s pregnant and
considering an abortion. Because of her
condition, her child would be born with
hydrocephaly. Her very religious parents
are against the abortion.
Fatme comes to you for advice on the
Islamic perspective of this situation!
The Islamic Medical
Association of North America
(IMANA)
Islamic Medical Ethics
Definition of
Islamic Medicine
The art and science of practice of
medicine by Muslim physicians and other
helath care providers in the service of
humanity under Islamic guidelines as
ordained by the divine book al-Qur’an
and taught by Prophet Muhammad,
peace be upon him (PBUH)
Islamic Medical Ethics: The IMANA Perspective
Islam considers access to
health care as a fundamental
right of the individual
When faced with difficult decisionmaking options for a patient, a
physician's decision should take into
consideration…
*Available Knowledge
*His/Her Experience
*His/Her Peers
*Consensus of the Community
And, of course, a final conclusion
should be based upon the rules of
~Islamic Laws~
most of which are based upon the Holy
Qur’an and/or saying of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
From Islmaic Law comes two main
principles in Islamic Medicine
Sanctity of Human Life
Whosoever saves a human life, saves the life of the whole mankind
(5:32)
 Seeking Cure
The Holy Prophet has said…
“There is no disease that God has created, except that
He also has created its treatment.”
“Seek treatment, for God the Exalted did not create a
disease for which He did not create a treatment,
except senility.’

Furthermore, these two principles
are supported by
the 5 Goals of Islamic Law
Protection and Preservation of
 Life
 Progeny
 Intellect
 Property
 Religion
Sanctity of Human Life
To what extent should the preservation and
protection of human life be upheld?
Let’s first define death
Two conditions which render a person dead:
 The physician has determined that after a
standard examination, a person’s
cardiopulmonary function has come to a
permanent stop
 A specialist physician has determined that
after standard examination, the function of
the brain and the brain stem, has come to a
permanent stop, even if some other organs
may continue to show spontaneous activity
Versus of the Qur’an which
Address Death
It is he who gives life and death and when He decides
upon an affair, He says to it: Be and it is (40:68)
 No soul can die except by God’s permission, the term
being fixed by writing…(3:145)
 Every soul will have a taste of death. In the end, to us,
shall you be brought back (29:57)
 It is He who gives life and Who takes it away and to
Him shall you be brought back (10:56)
 Nor take life which God has made sacred-except for a
just cause. (17:33)

Obvious Conclusions
Euthanasia and Physician Assisted
Suicide are prohibited in Islam.
What about the pain and suffering of
the terminally ill or persistent
vegetative state?
1. Mohamed on his death-bed is breathing via a
life-sustaining-ventilator.
Would removing the ventilator which would cause
death be considered haram (Islamically
impermissible)?
2. Mohamed refuses a ventilator needed to sustain
life.
To treat with full respect, a patient’s comfort should be
maintained by pain control.
1. If a patient’s death is medically inevitable, the patient
is permitted to die without unnecessary procedures.
(It is Islamically permissible to remove Mohamed from
the ventilator).
2. A terminally ill patient should decide if he or she
wants to continue life-sustaining treatment. However,
further or new attempts at life support are not
allowed.
(If Mohamed is on his death bed, he may reject the
ventilator for this reason).
Feeding Tube
(Terminally Ill)
 In
order to maintain comfort, nutrition
cannot be withheld because of
prolonged suffering.
 If
a feeding tube is removed, it cannot be
re-inserted. A patient should be
allowed to die peacefully.
Persistent Vegetative State (PVS)



Again, Islam does not encourage prolonging the
misery of those persons in PVS.
Thus, when nothing more can be done for the
PVS, it is best to allow the patient to dies
peacefully.
REMEMBER: Nutrition must, however, be
maintained until death
Let’s now define life
Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); Then
We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of
rest, firmly fixed; Then We made the sperm into a
clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a
(fetus) lump; them we made out of that lump bones
and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out
of it another creature. So blessed be God, the best to
create! (23:12-14)
 Islam holds that biological life begins at
conception while human life begins at
ensoulment (personhood).
When is ensoulment?
Different schools of thought believe
ensoulment takes place 40 to 120 days
after fertilization.
From Islamic Law comes two main
principles in Islamic Medicine
Sanctity of Human Life
Whosoever saves a human life, saves the life of the whole mankind
(5:32)
 Seeking Cure
The Holy Prophet has said…
“There is no disease that God has created, except that
He also has created its treatment.”
“Seek treatment, for God the Exalted did not create a
disease for which He did not create a treatment,
except senility.’

Seeking Care
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) clearly said
“Seek treatment..” This has some
medical implications. If an illness
could be treated or cured with
medication, an ill person should “seek
treatment”
Genetic Engineering
If gene therapy could prevent, cure, or
treat a disease, does Islam permit gene
therapy to “seek treatment”?
Yes,
Though Muslims are by no means
morally obligated, gene therapy is only
permitted in order to alter or delete
diseased genes.
Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC)
Embryonic stem cells provide means for
ill or diseased Muslims to “seek
treatment.”
However, ESC come from the death of
an embryo whose (at least) biological
life was killed.
Are ESC permitted in Islam?
Yes,
Only if the embryonic stem cells come
from spontaneous miscarriages or extra
ova from in vitro fertilization
By the way,
 When
a couple is unable to conceive a
child, in vitro fertilization is Islamically
permitted only between their own
sperm/ovum and at both of their consent.
 Third parties are Islamically impermissible
in the conception of a child. Therefore,
surrogate motherhood, sperm donors, etc.
are haram.
Abortion
Islamic Law on Abortion Come From
Most of the Same Qur’anic Versus
 It is he who gives life and death and when He decides
upon an affair, He says to it: Be and it is (40:68)
 No soul can die except by God’s permission, the term
being fixed by writing…(3:145)
 Every soul will have a taste of death. In the end, to us,
shall you be brought back (29:57)
 It is He who gives life and Who takes it away and to
Him shall you be brought back (10:56)
 Nor take life which God has made sacred-except for a
just cause. (17:33)
Direct Conclusions
 Therefore,
the premise of the conclusion
is similar to euthanasia:
Abortion of a healthy baby from a healthy
mother is Islamically prohibited
If the fetus harms the mother, the latter is
Islamically obligated to get an abortion.
Cases for Abortion
 If the infant will die shortly after birth
due to a fatal disease, an abortion is
Islamically permissible.
 If the baby is born with a non-fatal,
yet sever, malformation (e.g., severely
comatose), the mother can only abort
before 40-120 days after conception.
 Rape victims who conceived can opt
for abortion.
Another Argument

Other schools of thought state that aborting a
fetus from a rape incident is only committing
another crime.
Four Principles in Islamic Bioethics
 Respect for the autonomy of the
patient
 Beneficence
 Nonmaleficence: “first do no harm”
the ethical principal of doing no harm
 Distributive Justice: normative
principles designed to guide the
allocation of the benefits and burdens
of economic activity (Standford
Some rules of Islamic Bioethics
 Necessity
overrides prohibition: Under
severe circumstances, Islamically prohibited
items may become permissible
 Harm has to be removed at every cost if
possible
 Accept the lesser of two harms if both
cannot be avoided
 Public interest overrides individual interest
The consumption of pork is forbidden
in Islam; pigs are also considered
impure.
With that said, is it Islamically
permissible to implant a pig’s heart
valve in humans?
Yes,
Only when the valve is life sustaining
and no other substitutes are available
do the necessity of the heart valve
overrides the impurity of pigs.
Scarce Medical Resources
 Rules
of Bioethics:
Public interest overrides individual
interest.
 Decisions
should be in-part based on
the Consensus of the Community
The Communitarian View
 If
life-sustaining treatments consume
the community’s scarce medical
resources, then such treatment should
be stopped.
 With
freely accessible medical
resources, a disease should be fought
rigorously when a chance of survival
exists.
Fatme is on life-sustaining treatment.
The only way to save her is through the
use of embryonic stem cells. To make
matters worse, she’s pregnant and
considering an abortion. Because of her
condition, her child would be born with
hydrocephaly. Her very religious parents
are against the abortion.
Now, what is your advice?