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Draft:Euthanasia

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Euthanasia refers to killing an individual out of compassion due to the existence of an incurable and painful disease in that individual. Euthanasia is usually performed by administering a lethal and painless substance or by abandoning necessary care. The first method is called active euthanasia, and the second is called passive euthanasia. Sometimes, medications are made available to the patient so they can end their life by consuming them; this is called indirect euthanasia. Euthanasia is considered one of the New Issues in Fiqh (al-masa'il al-mustahdatha).

Jurists consider active euthanasia to be haram (forbidden). They state that if it is performed without the patient's permission, the patient's guardian (walī) has the right to Qisas (retaliation) or Diya (blood money). However, regarding cases where the patient has given permission, there is a difference of fatwa among them: some say the guardian has the right to qisas or diya, while others say they do not. There is also a difference of fatwa regarding passive euthanasia: some issue a fatwa that it is haram, while others say that if the individual has an incurable disease and suffers by continuing the illness, their treatment is not Wajib (obligatory).

Jurists consider indirect euthanasia, meaning the consumption of lethal medication by the patient themself, to be Suicide and issue a fatwa on its prohibition.

Concept and Status

Euthanasia means killing an individual who is afflicted with an incurable and painful disease.[1] This act is done out of compassion using a painless method,[2] by using a lethal substance or abandoning necessary care.[3] Euthanasia is performed in three forms: active, passive, and indirect. If death is caused by medication, it is called active euthanasia.[4] If treatment and medication are merely withheld so the patient dies, it is called passive euthanasia.[5] In indirect euthanasia, medications are placed within the patient's reach so they can personally end their life by consuming them.[6]

In classical Shi'a jurisprudential works (during the time of al-Shaykh al-Tusi and before), the prohibition of killing someone who has consented to their own death was discussed; however, the specific rulings of euthanasia were not discussed.[7] Accordingly, this issue is considered one of the New Issues in jurisprudence.[8] The jurisprudential discussion on euthanasia is distinct from the subject of Brain death; thus, a Faqih (jurist) may consider it permissible to disconnect devices from a brain-dead patient or a patient in a coma with no hope of recovery, yet the same jurist may consider passive euthanasia—meaning the abandonment of treatment out of compassion—to be haram.[9]

Injunctive Ruling

The views of Shi'a jurists regarding the Injunctive ruling (al-hukm al-taklifi) of euthanasia—whether it is haram or halal—are as follows:

  • Active Euthanasia: According to inquiries (istifta'at) from contemporary Shi'a jurists, active euthanasia is considered murder and is haram.[10] According to the opinion of jurists, the patient's permission and consent to perform euthanasia do not effect a change in the injunctive ruling, i.e., the ruling of prohibition.[11]
  • Passive Euthanasia: Some jurists such as Lutf Allah Safi Gulpayigani and Husayn Ali Montazeri consider it haram to refrain from treating an incurable patient who suffers from their disease.[12] In contrast to this opinion, the Fatwa of jurists such as Mirza Jawad Tabrizi, al-Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei, and Sayyid Ali Husayni Khamenei is that continuing treatment in these conditions is not Wajib.[13]
  • Indirect Euthanasia: According to the fatwa of Shi'a jurists, indirect euthanasia or the consumption of medication by the patient themself to end their life is considered Suicide and is haram.[14]

Declaratory Ruling

The Declaratory ruling (al-ḥukm al-waḍʿī) in euthanasia concerns the liability or non-liability for Qisas (retaliation) or Diya (blood money) that may fall upon the person performing it. The fatwas of jurists in this regard are as follows:

Active Euthanasia

If a physician or another person intentionally kills an incurable patient suffering from their disease without their permission, they are considered to have committed intentional murder, even if they do so out of compassion and pity. This act establishes the right of qisas or diya for the victim's guardian (wali).[15] However, assuming the patient consents to their own death and permits it, there is a difference of opinion among jurists:

Passive Euthanasia

According to the fatwa of jurists, whoever sees a human being in a state of perishing and does not save them despite having the power to do so, although they have committed a sin, diya or qisas is not incumbent upon them.[19] Accordingly, if a physician does not treat a patient and the patient dies due to the abandonment of treatment, the physician has committed a sin; however, they are not liable, and the deceased's heir does not have the right to qisas or diya.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Anvarī, Farhang-i rūz-i sukhan, p. 38.
  2. ↑ Anvarī, Farhang-i rūz-i sukhan, pp. 38-39.
  3. ↑ Yazdānī-far, Utānāzī az manẓar-i fiqh wa ḥuqūq, p. 28.
  4. ↑ Qāsimī, Dānishnāma-yi fiqh-i pizishkī, vol. 3, p. 323.
  5. ↑ Qāsimī, Dānishnāma-yi fiqh-i pizishkī, vol. 3, p. 323.
  6. ↑ Qāsimī, Dānishnāma-yi fiqh-i pizishkī, vol. 3, p. 323.
  7. ↑ See for example: Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, vol. 4, p. 180.
  8. ↑ Khudāyār and Saʿdī, "Istinād bi qāʿida-yi idhn barā-yi mashrūʿiyyat-i utānāzī-yi dāwṭalabāna-yi faʿʿāl", p. 36.
  9. ↑ See for example: Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, vol. 1, pp. 479-480; Khūʾī and Tabrīzī, Aḥkām-i jāmiʿ-i masāʾil-i pizishkī, p. 280; Khūʾī, Fiqh al-aʿdhār al-sharʿiyya wa l-masāʾil al-ṭibbiyya, p. 198.
  10. ↑ Muntaẓerī, Aḥkām-i pizishkī, p. 122; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Aḥkām-i bīmārān wa pizishkān, p. 152; Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, vol. 1, p. 479; Makārim Shīrāzī, Aḥkām-i pizishkī, p. 116; Khūʾī and Tabrīzī, Aḥkām-i jāmiʿ-i masāʾil-i pizishkī, pp. 280-281; Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Istiftāʾāt-i pizishkī, p. 100; ʿAlawī Gurgānī, Istiftāʾāt-i pizishkī, p. 40; Qāsimī, Dānishnāma-yi fiqh-i pizishkī, vol. 3, p. 305.
  11. ↑ Fāḍil Lankarānī, Aḥkām-i bīmārān wa pizishkān, p. 152; Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, vol. 1, p. 479.
  12. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Istiftāʾāt-i pizishkī, p. 100; Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, vol. 1, p. 479; Muntaẓerī, Aḥkām-i pizishkī, p. 122.
  13. ↑ See: Khūʾī, Fiqh al-aʿdhār al-sharʿiyya wa l-masāʾil al-ṭibbiyya, p. 198; "Aḥkām-i utānāzī", Pāygāh-i iṭṭilāʿ-rasānī-yi daftar-i maqām-i muʿaẓẓam-i rahbarī; Khūʾī and Tabrīzī, Aḥkām-i jāmiʿ-i masāʾil-i pizishkī, p. 281.
  14. ↑ See: Muntaẓerī, Aḥkām-i pizishkī, p. 123; Qāsimī, Dānishnāma-yi fiqh-i pizishkī, vol. 3, p. 303.
  15. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Istiftāʾāt-i pizishkī, p. 100; Anṣārī Qumī, "Qatl az rūy-i taraḥḥum", p. 138.
  16. ↑ Sabziwārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 28, p. 199; Imam Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 489; Rūḥānī, Fiqh al-Ṣādiq, vol. 26, p. 34.
  17. ↑ Khūʾī, Mabānī takmilat al-minhāj, vol. 42, p. 18; Tabrīzī, Tanqīḥ mabānī l-aḥkām, pp. 47-48; Subḥānī, Aḥkām al-qiṣāṣ fī l-sharīʿa al-Islāmiyya al-gharrāʾ, p. 93.
  18. ↑ Khūʾī, Mabānī takmilat al-minhāj, vol. 42, p. 18; Tabrīzī, Tanqīḥ mabānī l-aḥkām, pp. 47-48; Subḥānī, Aḥkām al-qiṣāṣ fī l-sharīʿa al-Islāmiyya al-gharrāʾ, p. 93.
  19. ↑ See for example: Al-ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Taḥrīr al-aḥkām, vol. 5, p. 551; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 43, p. 153.
  20. ↑ Anṣārī Qumī, "Qatl az rūy-i taraḥḥum", p. 141.

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