There is in the medical law the issue of non-resuscitation, so that the patient whose death have been…

Question

There is in the medical law the issue of non-resuscitation, so that the patient whose death have been confirmed by the doctors, can request not to be resuscitated in case his heart stops working. The resuscitation is done by pressing on his chest, putting an artificial respiration machine, electrocution, etc. used. If we ask medical experts, they say that this patient can be resuscitated, but his death is inevitable after an hour, day or week, and it is often a very arduous process for the patient to resuscitate in addition to the pain that he will suffer in most of the times. Hence, this law was issued, which allows the patient to choose not to be resuscitated, since his death is inevitable and he is in a very advanced state of illness and pain, so it is preferable to be left in this case. We would like to get the legal ruling for this matter clarified, given that it is applied in some of our Islamic countries and consider the medical matters that I mentioned, as this issue is a problem.

Ayatullah Bashir Hussain al-Najafi · Accepted Answer

In the name of Allah, if it is known that the movement of the heart and blood flow in the arteries is by the strength of the machine only, and there is no remaining force in the body of the person this blood movement, then he is legally dead. However, if the machine and medications help the instinctive movement which maintains blood flow in the arteries, he is alive but weak. It is known that the loss of consciousness leads to a loss of pain, so it makes no sense to say that stopping aid with medication and others is a relief for a person. Therefore, it is not permissible to remove the devices from him and expedite his death. Allah knows best.

There is in the medical law the issue of non-resuscitation, so that the patient whose death have been…

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