A study of the fatawa on brain (stem) death

Dublin Core

Title

A study of the fatawa on brain (stem) death

Author

Mohamed, Zubair Umer

Language

English

Publication Date

20200800

Abstract

This paper explores the information that is freely available on the internet to the English reader regarding the Islamic ruling on the legality on brain death. The information available in the medical literature, Islamic websites and search engines, and general google search is analysed. Medical professionals are not unanimous in the acceptance of brain death as a form of death and so are the Islamic scholars. Although, medical literature seems to suggest that majority of the Islamic scholars approve of brain death as a form of death, the information available, in English, on Islamic and fatwa websites imply a general disapproval of this concept. Transplantation, organ donation and brain death are three different, albeit inter-related concepts that deserve independent fatwas. Many fatwas tend to homogenise them adding to the confusion of the end user. This pattern transcends both Sunni and Shia schools of thought. A uniform verdict agreeable to all Islamic scholars is not available.

Primary Classification

20.2.1

Secondary Classification

20.2.1; 1.2

Primary keywords

brain death [pri]; fatwas [pri]; Islamic ethics [pri]

Secondary keywords

determination of death; Internet; Islamic councils; Koran; modern Muslim religious scholars; physicians

Subject

fatawa; Qur'an

Journal Article

Journal of the British Islamic Medical Association. 2020 August; 5(2): 16p.

Note

Copyright © 2019 Journal of the British Islamic Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Primary Document Type

j

Bibliography

33 refs.

ISSN

26348071 (online)

Collection

Citation

“A study of the fatawa on brain (stem) death,” Islamic Medical & Scientific Ethics, accessed January 22, 2025, https://imse.ibp.georgetown.domains/items/show/38361.