Aale Mohammad

I am a doctor and work in ICU. This ventilator issue is a huge problem and I have had countless discussions on this topic. It is an extremely complicated and difficult situation to be in and scholars do say that removing the ventilator is equivalent to murder. There is therefore a tremendous debate on this issue and many doctors have, over the last 2 decades discussed this matter with scholars but unfortunately there is no solution yet. This is an issue which has haunted Shia doctors esp. ICU doctors as well as families of patients for years. Some important points to be considered are what constitutes as "death" in Islam? How does Islamic law define death because there is discrepancy in what scholars consider as death vs. what is death medically. Brain death is not considered death by the scholars as long as the heart is beating even if by artificial means. Some individuals can be brain dead but their hearts may go on beating for even months. If they are on ventilator, then switching it off would imply that the doctor is a murderer. Many times the family simply cannot afford to pay for the ventilator for even a few days, but scholars even then strongly believe that no matter what, even if the family has to sell everything they own and end up on the street, the ventilator must still continue. If the family refuses to pay for the ventilator, and the hospital switches it off because they cannot afford to bear the expenses themselves, then who is the murderer? What if a hospital has only a limited number of ventilators and one of them is being used on a brain dead individual who has been on the ventilator for many weeks with no signs of recovery. If another patient comes in who needs a vent and there is hope that the vent. will save his life, isn't it sad that the patient who could be saved would die as the vent is being used by a patient who is already medically dead. The one thing that scholars do allow is that a patient or his family can give orders for DNR/DNV - do not resuscitate, do not ventilate. Allowing the patient to die without putting him on the ventilator in the first place is permissible, but removing the patient from vent is not allowed, unless the heart stops. In other words, de-escalation of treatment is forbidden. Many doctors remove the vent. by saying that we should not prolong the misery of the patient. This is a wrong concept because every second of life is a very big blessing of Allah, even if it may appear as miserable to the person himself or to the doctors. A doctor or his relatives may feel that the patient is in misery, but the disease may be a great reward from Allah on that person because the disease may be nullifying many of the person's sins. Termination of life prior to the time Allah has decided for the patient would mean we have robbed that person of precious days of his life, even if he appears brain dead to us. Perhaps in the future, Shia scholars and marjas will come up with practical solutions to this extremely, critical matter. Anyone of us can face such situation in life and should be prepared before-hand. May Allah protect us all.

How much delay is "very much"? This is important to know because in some mosques, the sermon starts soon after zuhur but the jumaa prayer starts after more than an hour, upto an hour and a half later. In such cases, would jumaa not suffice for zuhur?

There is no comparison between kerbala and other incidents where people were killed. When someone is killed, you can ask 3 questions... 1. Who was killed? 2. Why was he killed? 3. How was he killed? Kerbala is the only event in history in which these three questions have answers that reach a level that is absolutely unmatched in status by any other event. The best of all men in the eyes of Allah, was killed defending the most noble of all causes for the sake of Allah and was killed in the most cunning of all ways. No event in history can even resemble such an atrocity.

Can add Fajar to the list of Quranic names.

ثُمَّ لَتُسْــَٔلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ Then, on that day, ye will be asked concerning pleasure. (10.8) It can be a female name too, although usually male.

Out of interest, following are some names of girls which are words of Allah himself and used in Quran: maryum Aliya Saba Laila marziya kokab naima Isha raaziya naeem Aania qamar Emaan kawser hijab isra tur tahreem Samar Ayaat Bismillah Muzuammil Sakeenah Fajar

I have the original version of the book published in the early 1900s...belonged to my grandfather's elder brother.

Walykum Salam Yes. Shias even attempted to kill Saladin. That's because he himself was severely anti-Shia.

Which ruling do they not have?

Male and female doctors are not allowed to examine bodies of opposite gender - unless there is a very serious necessity and no other option available and will cause severe harm if not done. ---------- https://www.Sistani.org/english/book/46/2060/ Question: Sometimes the practising physician feels that he has to uncover certain parts, other than the private parts, of the female patient [for examination]. Is it permissible for him to uncover her body in the following circumstances: When a female physician is available, yet costly? When the patient is not in danger, although she is sick regardless?What is the rule if the part that the physician has to examine is a private part? Answer: If visiting a female physician is possible, it is not permissible [for a female patient to uncover her body for a male physician], unless the cost is so much that it will hurt her financial situation.It is permissible, if not visiting that male physician will harm [her health-wise] or put her in a serious inconvenience that is not normally tolerated. The rule is the same as explained above; and in both the cases, he must only uncover the parts that need examining. And if it is possible to treat the case without looking directly at the parts that are harãm to look at (for example, if he can see through a monitor or a mirror), that should be the course of action, based on precaution.

Thank you very much.

Salam One of Imam Ali (as)'s title is Quaid-ul-hurr-ul-muhajjuleen. I've heard this in different sermons. It is also read as part of the salam read before jumaa prayer. The Arabic I wrote may not be correct. Does anyone know the correct Arabic and what does this mean?...leader of...who?

If the rule says that a doctor can't directly look at the private parts of the patients, let alone touch them, and has to use a mirror instead, then a male doctor going into the field of breast surgery would be problematic, I believe.

Women have a choice to opt for OBS&Gyn but male doctors do not have a choice to select a field which is specific to men only. It gets very difficult for male doctors to avoid even the slightest physical contact with female patients. There are other rules as well which are very difficult to implement - for example, to examine any patient's private part, it is not allowed to look at it directly. Instead, a mirror has to be used and the doctor has to see the reflection in the mirror, rather than looking at it directly - unless looking directly is necessary. Now, establishing that actual necessity can be difficult and can leave a doctor wondering whether a mirror could have sufficed. So, this topic doesn't apply to women only - even men have to consider whether they would be able to avoid all physical contact with female patients, if they decide to become doctors. Not an easy question to answer.