ABSTRACT
Islamic tradition has preserved a detailed account of religious aspects of death and dying. Traditionally Islamic jurisprudence has retained a continuity in its guidance in the matter of the legal and ritual aspects of death. Moreover, the scriptural sources and their commentaries have provided detailed aspects of the funeral rites and mourning practices in books dealing with the traditions about the subject. The sources define death as complete cessation of the heart or respiration. However, a further dimension has been added to this classical formulation of death in view of the modern medical technology that can intervene to prolong life through the life-support system in the case where all functions of the brain have ceased. This development has given rise to the question of whether brain death can be recognized as a valid formulation of death without first defining the criteria of life in Islam. Can innate integration of vegetative functions without cognition in a brain-dead person be used as the necessary and sufficient condition of life? What are the social and moral implications of recognizing brain death as a valid criterion for death in Muslim society? Today end-of-life issues have become religiously, emotionally, and politically charged topics, and many people have challenged the biotechnical aspects of prolongation of life beyond its natural span. The Shari’a, religious law of Muslims, emphasizes the role of physicians as care and cure givers. The medical advancement in prolonging life has caused both financial burden and psychological tension for the family and the healthcare providers. This paper will elaborate this long tradition to underscore the religious and cultural issues that dominate the subject of death in Muslim world.
