Opinions on the Legitimacy of Brain Death Among Sunni and Shi’a Scholars

The concept of brain death poses a great challenge to clinicians who may be required to bridge the interface of culture, religion, law, and medicine. This review discusses and applies Islamic jurisprudence to the question of whether brain death is accepted as true death under Islamic law. Among the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Miller, Andrew C. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. [2016]
In: Journal of religion and health
Year: 2016, Volume: 55, Issue: 2, Pages: 394-402
Further subjects:B Brain Death
B end of life
B Islam
B Death
B Medical Ethics
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:The concept of brain death poses a great challenge to clinicians who may be required to bridge the interface of culture, religion, law, and medicine. This review discusses and applies Islamic jurisprudence to the question of whether brain death is accepted as true death under Islamic law. Among the five sources of Islamic law, the Qur’an and Sunnah do not directly address brain death. Scholarly consensus (Ijmā’) does not exist, and Qiya does not apply. When applying Ijtihad, the identified collection of non-binding fatwā offer conflicting results. Debate continues as to the validity of brain-death criteria within Islamic circles.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-015-0157-8