Interesting piece from Gulf News out of Dubai, reporting on rulings issued by the Saudi Grand Mufti on various medical issues. Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh rules that those who are brain-dead cannot be removed from respirators as their hearts are still beating. Those executed by the state cannot have organs removed for transplant (strongly different from the practice in China). Rulings on abortion, Caesarian section deliveries, and culpability for unintentional medical errors are also addressed. Worth reading.
‘Removal of respirators from brain-dead not permissible’
Mariam Al HakeemRiyadh: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Al Shaikh has affirmed that removal of respirators from brain-dead people and babies born with disability is not permissible since their hearts beat naturally.
Addressing a meeting of senior doctors in Taif city, he also said that it is prohibited to force prisoners sentenced to death to donate their organs and treat as brain-dead persons.
“It is right to execute them, but there is no right to cut a part of their organs,” he explained. “It is wrong to take some parts of the body of a person sentenced to death and then carry out the death penalty on him. This is not permissible,” he added.
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August:13:2008 - 15:15
I thought all were reasonable rulings with the exception of the one on removal of respirators. I think that has to be looked at as a medical advise and family decision to make.
August:17:2008 - 17:25
I didn’t like the article. What is the reasoning for the ruling, and what source material is it based on?
August:17:2008 - 17:56
Solomon2,
You ask a logical question, but unfortunately only the Shaikh knows. He simply could have been on a visit and just provided his views. With his high rank as the top cleric every religious opinion he makes is recorded. If news paper reporters are not there to record it, there will be Sahriia students or protege’s to do that. The fact that the laws are not codified, many of the opinions the Shaikh makes can be referenced and may influence rulings by the courts in the future.
August:17:2008 - 18:25
Exactly. He may have had extensive sources or relied solely on his personal judgment. He didn’t say or the media didn’t report, but in either case, there’s no way of knowing short of asking him directly.