Abstract
Ever since the start of the twentieth century, a growing interest and importance of studying fatwas can be noted, with a focus on Arabic printed fatwas (Wokoeck 2009). The scholarly study of end-of-life ethics in these fatwas is a very recent feature, taking a first start in the 1980s (Anees 1984; Rispler-Chaim 1993). Since the past two decades, we have witnessed the emergence of a multitude of English fatwas that can easily be consulted through the Internet (‘e-fatwas’), providing Muslims worldwide with a form of Islamic normative guidance on a huge variety of topics. Although English online fatwas do provide guidance for Muslims and Muslim minorities worldwide on a myriad of topics including end-of-life issues, they have hardly been studied. This study analyses Islamic views on (non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide as expressed in English Sunni fatwas published on independent—i.e. not created by established organisations—Islamic websites. We use Tyan’s definition of a fatwa to distinguish between fatwas and other types of texts offering Islamic guidance through the Internet. The study of e-fatwas is framed in the context of Bunt’s typology of Cyber Islamic Environments (Bunt 2009) and in the framework of Roy’s view on the virtual umma (Roy 2002). ‘(Non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide’ are defined using Broeckaert’s conceptual framework on treatment decisions at the end of life (Broeckaert 2008). We analysed 32 English Sunni e-fatwas. All of the e-fatwas discussed here firmly speak out against every form of active termination of life. They often bear the same structure, basing themselves solely on Quranic verses and prophetic traditions, leaving aside classical jurisprudential discussions on the subject. In this respect they share the characteristics central in Roy’s typology of the fatwa in the virtual umma. On the level of content, they are in line with the international literature on Islamic end-of-life ethics. English Sunni e-fatwas make up an influential and therefore important developing body of Islamic orthodox normative authority on end-of-life ethics that is still open for further research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The Arabic term sunna means litteraly ‘way of acting’ and refers to the example of the prophet Muhammad as it has been traditionally handed over in the form of short texts (Arab. (s.) hadīth/(pl.) ‘ahadīth). G.H.A. Juynboll, ‘Sunna’. Encyclopaedia of the Qurān Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 04 December 2009 http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00408; Together, Quran and Sunna form the two canonized and most important sources of Islamic knowledge. Schacht (1982); Hallaq 1997.
References
Adib, S.M., S.H. Kawas, et al. 2003. End of life issues as perceived by Lebanese judges. Developing World Bioethics 3(1): 10–26.
Ahmed, A.M., and M.M. Kheir. 2006. Attitudes towards euthanasia among final-year Khartoum university medical students. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 12(3/4): 391–397.
Ahmed, A.M., M.M. Kheir, et al. 2001. Attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide among Sudanese doctors. Eastern Mediterranean health journal 7(3): 551–555.
Al-Jubayr, H. s.d. Mercy killing. Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://islamtoday.com/show_detail_section.cfm?q_id=860&main_cat_id=19.
al-Khateeb, M. 2009. Yusuf al-Qaradawi as an authoritative reference. In Global Mufti. The phenomenon of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, ed. B. Gräf, and J. Skovgaard-Petersen, 85–108. New York: Columbia University Press.
Al-Qaradawi, Y. 2005. Islam’s stance on euthanasia. Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544774.
Anderson, J.W. 1997. Cybernauts of the Arab diaspora: Electronic mediation in transnational cultural identities. In Prepared for couch-stone symposium postmodern culture, global capitalism and democratic action, University of Maryland 10–12 April 1997. Retrieved 22 February 2006, from http://www.naba.org.uk/content/articles/diaspora/cybernauts_of_the_arab_diaspora.htm.
Anderson, J.W. 2000. New media in the Muslim world: The emerging public sphere. ISIM Newsletter 5: 39.
Anees, M. 1984. A select bibliography on Islamic medicine. Muslim World Book Review 5(1): 59–68.
Ash-Shareef, A.H. 2003. Suicide by proxy. Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503546480.
Atighetchi, D. 2007. Islamic bioethics: Problems and perspectives. New York: Springer.
Azzi, A.R. 1999. Islam in cyberspace: Muslim presence on the internet. Retrieved February 22nd 2006, from http://www.renaissance.com.pk/julnevi99.html.
Brockopp, J.E. 2002. Islamic ethics of saving life: A comparative perspective. Medicine and Law 21(2): 225–241.
Brockopp, J.E. 2004. Islamic ethics of life. Abortion, war and euthanasia. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
Brockopp, J.E., and T. Eich. 2008. Muslim medical ethics. From theory to practice. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
Broeckaert, B. 2004. Ethical issues at the end of life. A very short introduction. In Palliative care nursing. Principles and evidence for practice, ed. J. Payne, J. Seymour, and C. Ingleton, 385–401. New York: Open University Press.
Broeckaert, B. 2008. Treatment decisions at the end of life. A conceptual framework. In Palliative care nursing principles and evidence for practice, vol. 2, ed. S. Payne, J. Seymour, and C. Ingleton, 402–421. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Broeckaert, B. 2009. Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. In Palliative medicine, ed. T. Walsh, A. Caraceni, R. Fainsinger, et al., 110–115. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Broeckaert, B., and Flemish_Palliative_Care_Federation. 2006. End of life decisions—A conceptual framework. Brussels: FPZV.
Bunt, G.R. 1999. islam@brittain.net: ‘Britisch Muslim’ identities in cyberspace. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 10(3): 353–362.
Bunt, G.R. 2009. iMuslims. Rewiring the house of Islam. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Burhan, s.d. What is the Islamic ruling on euthanasia according to quran and sunnah? Retrieved February 27th 2006, from removed from site.
Buskens, L. 2000. An Islamic triangle. Changing relationships between shari’a, state law, and local customs. ISIM Newsletter 5: 8.
Cavlak, U., U.B. Aslan, et al. 2007. Attitudes of physiotherapists and physiotherapy students towards euthanasia: A comparative study. Advances in Therapy 24(1): 134–1445.
Dif, M. 2003. La maladie et la mort selon l’Islam: Rites et comportement. Lyon: Tawhid.
Eickelman, D.F., and J.F. Anderson. 2003. New media in the Muslim world. The emerging public sphere. Bloomington: Indianapolis University Press.
Esposito, J.L., and D. Mogahed. 2007. Who speaks for Islam? What a billion Muslims really think. New York: Gallup Press.
Fatwa_Bank_Islamweb 2002. Patient’s right to die. Retrieved 21st December 2005, from http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/Fatwa/ShowFatwa.php?lang=E&Id=84065&Option=FatwaId.
Gard, G., U. Cavlak, et al. 2005. Life-views and ethical viewpoints among physiotherapy students in Sweden and Turkey—a comparative study. Advances in Physiotherapy 7: 20–31.
Gräf, B. 2009. The concept of wasatiyya in the work of Yusuf al-Qaradawi. In Global Mufti: The phenomenon of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, ed. B. Gräf, and J. Skovgaard-Petersen, 213–238. New York: Columbia University Press.
Haddad, Y.Y. 1998. Towards the carving of Islamic space in ‘the west’. ISIM Newsletter 1: 5.
Haddad, Y.Y. 1999. The globalisation of Islam. The return of Muslims to the west. In The Oxford history of Islam, ed. J. Esposito, 601–641. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hallaq, W.B. 1997. A history of Islamic legal theories. An introduction to Sunni usul al-fiqh. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Islamicity_Anonymous. 1995, Mercy killing: No killing can be merciful. Retrieved February 26th 2006, from removed from the website.
Islamicity_Anonymous. 1998, Is euthanasia good in Islam? Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://www.mo.be/index.php?id=151&no_cache=0&tx_uwnews_pi2%5bart_id%5d=20477.
Islamicity_Anonymous. s.d, ‘Euthanasia’. Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://www.islamicity.com/Science/euthanas.shtml#top.
Islamonline_Fatwa_Editing_Desk: 2005, ‘Euthanasia: Types and rulings’. Retrieved May 12th 2010.
Kutty, A. 2004. Depression May Lead Me to Suicide: What to Do? Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503548370.
Mandaville, P. 1999. Digital Islam: Changing the boundaries of religious knowledge? ISIM Newsletter 2(1): 23.
Mandaville, P. 2001. Reimagining Islam in diaspora. International Communication Gazette 63(2–3): 169–186.
Qidwai, W., H. Qureshi, et al. 2001. Physician assisted suicide perceptions among patients presenting to family physicians at a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association 51(6): 233–237.
Rispler-Chaim, V. 1993. Islamic medical ethics in the twentieth century. Leiden: Brill.
Rohe, M. 2004. Application of Shari’a rules in Europe—Scope and limits. Die Welt des Islams 44(3): 323–350.
Roy, O. 2002. L’islam mondialisé. Paris: Editions du Seuil.
Schacht, J. 1982. An introduction to Islamic law. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shanawani, H., and M.H. Khalil. 2008. Reporting on “Islamic Bioethics” in the medical literature: Where are the experts? In Muslim medical ethics. From theory to practice, ed. J. Brockopp, and T. Eich, 213–228. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
Siddiqi, M: 2005, ‘Who takes a patient’s life?’ Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503549628.
Tyan, E. 1965. ‘“Fatwa”‘. Encyclopédie de l’Islam 2: 886.
UnderstandingIslam_Anonymous: 1998, ‘About euthanasia and mercy killings’. Retrieved December 7th 2009, from http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.aspx?type=question&qid=229&sscatid=345.
Van Bruinessen, M. 2001. The production of Islamic knowledge in Western Europe. ISIM Newsletter 8: 3.
Van den Branden, S.: 2006, Islamitische ethiek aan het levenseinde. Een theoretisch omkaderde inhoudsanalyse van Engelstalig soennitisch bronnenmateriaal en een kwalitatief empirisch onderzoek naar de houding van praktiserende Marokkaanse oudere mannen in Antwerpen. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven.
Van den Branden, S., and B. Broeckaert. 2009. Globalisation and a living Islamic identity. English Sunni e-fatwas on end-of-life decision-making. In In-between spaces. Christian and Muslim minorities in transition in Europe and the middle east, ed. C. Timmerman, J. Leman, H. Roos, and B. Segaert, 203–218. Brussels: P.I.E. Peter Lang.
Wokoeck, U. 2009. German orientalism. The study of the middle east and Islam from 1800 to 1945. London: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van den Branden, S., Broeckaert, B. Living in the hands of God. English Sunni e-fatwas on (non-)voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. Med Health Care and Philos 14, 29–41 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-010-9280-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-010-9280-1