Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Sir,

I am a doctor. I come across patients who are near death and I sometimes resuscitate them. Is it allowed in islam to bring back people from the dead?

I also want to know if it`s allowed in Islam to switch off ventilators for patients who are declared brain dead.

Another questions..playing doctor is it bad or good. Also can one receive blood tranfusion or another kidney form another person?
Thank you.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Is a doctor allowed to resuscitate a patient?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Q-1: I am a doctor. I come across patients who are near death and I sometimes resuscitate them. Is it allowed in islam to bring back people from the dead?
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 156: It is Allah that gives life and death and Allah sees well all that ye do.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 78: "Wherever ye are, death will find you out, even if ye are in towers built up strong and high!"

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 32 Surah Sajdah verse 11: Say: "The Angel of Death put in charge of you will (duly) take your souls: then shall ye be brought back to your Lord."

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 61: He is the Irresistible (watching) from above over his worshippers, and He sets guardians over you. At length when death approaches one of you Our angels take his soul, and they never fail in their duty.

It is Allah Subhanah who has Decreed the term of death of every soul, and He Alone Knows that term. Thus when a person, who we assume is ‘near’ death is brought to a human being or doctor, it is our duty to do all that is in our control to keep him alive, simply because we do not know if his death is indeed ‘near’ or far! Allah Alone has that knowledge.

If the patients has approached his time of death, no doctor or combinations of doctors can change what Allah Subhanah has Decreed! And if the patient who came to the doctor in a state of ‘near’ death, and was resuscitated and lived a few more hours or years…it is not that the doctor gave him life, but it was because that was not the patient’s decreed time and place to die!

Q-2: I also want to know if it`s allowed in Islam to switch off ventilators for patients who are declared brain dead.

Almost all the scholars in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that it would not be permissible to switch off the life-support units of patients who are declared brain ‘dead’!

Q-3: Another questions..playing doctor is it bad or good.

We humbly request you to please clarify this question, as we are unable to understand the connotation of ‘playing doctor’.

Q-4: Also can one receive blood tranfusion or another kidney form another person?
The Holy Quran and Sunnah are silent on the above issue, as these transplants were obviously made available only after the advancements of technology and modern medicine, which were not available at the time the Quran was being revealed. The scholars in Islam have debated on this issue in light of the principles of the Quran and Sunnah, and the majority of them are of the opinion that there is no harm if one donates his blood, or kidney, or any other body part so that some other human may benefit from it; provided some conditions are met.

One cannot be forced to donate his body parts.

One may donate his body parts of his own free will.

One should not sell or get any material benefit for donating his body parts.

If the above conditions are met, there is absolutely no harm in Shariah in giving or receiving blood tranfusion, kidney or eye transplant, etc.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan