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(WLST) Name: Siddiq Diwan Studen Title: Pulling the plug - An Islamic Perspective of the Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatment (WLST) Name: Siddiq Diwan Student Number: 1502672 Supervised by: Dr Gary Bunt Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of Masters by Research (Islamic Studies) (TRDL7101) University of Wales Trinity Saint David 2018 Contents Contents Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................. 5 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 8 1 The Aim ........................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 The Islamic mindset ................................................................................................................ 9 1.2 The Experiential Evolution of this research ............................................................................ 9 1.3 The Gap ................................................................................................................................. 11 1.4 The Structure ........................................................................................................................ 11 1.5 Limitations............................................................................................................................. 12 1.5.1 ‘An or The’ – who speaks for Islam ............................................................................... 12 1.5.2 Islamic or Islamicate? .................................................................................................... 13 1.5.3 The era in which Islam was born ................................................................................... 14 1.5.4 The British context ........................................................................................................ 14 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 16 2.1 The Goals of Care (GOC) – why treat? .................................................................................. 16 2.1.1 Preventative treatment ................................................................................................ 17 2.1.2 Curative treatment........................................................................................................ 17 2.1.3 Palliative treatment ...................................................................................................... 17 2.1.4 Euthanasia ..................................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Technological advancement – boon or bane? ...................................................................... 18 2.3 Life-Sustaining Treatment (LST): optional treatment or human need? ................................ 19 2.3.1 WLST: utility or futility? ................................................................................................. 20 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 24 Divine revelation (Waḥy & Shariʿa ) .................................................................................................. 24 Goals and objectives ......................................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Primary sources: Textual evidence (Nass) base - The Qurʾan and Sunnah, Ijmʿa and Qiyās 25 3.1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 25 3.1.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 27 3.1.3 Results ........................................................................................................................... 28 3.1.4 The Qurʾan and Sunnah on the ownership, sanctity and preservation of life and the body it resides in ........................................................................................................................... 32 3.1.5 Quality of Life (QoL) Metrics in Islam ............................................................................ 35 3.1.6 Death definition ............................................................................................................ 37 3.2 Secondary and Tertiary Sources ........................................................................................... 39 3.2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 39 3.2.2 Goal of Shariʿa - Complimentary or confounding ......................................................... 39 3.2.3 Juristic Maxims -Qawāid Al-Fiqhiyyah: Reductionist or prudent safeguards ............... 42 3.3 The Taxonomy of a determination (Ḥukm) - A deontological pentagon? ............................. 44 3.3.1 Obligatory - Wājib ......................................................................................................... 45 3.3.2 Recommended - Mandūb ............................................................................................. 47 3.3.3 Permissible or discretionary - Mubāḥ ........................................................................... 48 3.3.4 Discouraged - Makrūh ................................................................................................... 49 3.3.5 Forbidden - Haram ........................................................................................................ 51 4 An Islamic perspective of WLST .................................................................................................... 54 DECLARATION SHEET This sheet MUST be signed and included within the thesis This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed: S.Diwan (student) Date: 28/09/2017 STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed: S.Diwan (student) Date: 28/09/2017 STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed: S.Diwan (student) Date: 28/09/2017 STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for deposit in the University’s digital repository. Signed: S.Diwan (student) Date: 28/09/2017 Acknowledgement All praise and gracious thanks are due to Allāh, the most compassionate, who has inspired and enabled me to undertake this dissertation, and may the choicest of greetings and warmest of salutations be upon my master the noblest of all creation sent down as a mercy to humankind Muhammad PBUH. Following the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH who said, “He who does not thank people cannot truly thank Allāh”, I would like to thank the following individuals for their continued support and guidance during the gestation and birth of this research. To my parents Abdullah and Salimah whose unconditional love for me brightened up many a dark day. To my caring wife Khadija who continuously inspired me, and who has had to go through difficult times during my study period. Last but not the least, to my beloved children, Maryam and Ibrahim, who are the joy of my life; whose sight always took the edge out of difficult days. A special thanks to all my colleagues at MFT for their academic input in this research. Transliteration and Conventions The transliteration system that has been used is the one by the International Journal of Middle East Studies and is called the 'IJMES System'.1 All Arabic words have been italicized other than proper names, names of places, the word Qur'an and Sunnah and words that have become a part of the English language such as 'Islam'. I have tried to minimise the usage of Arabic word and give their English equivalents. However, as the English translation is not universally accepted I have placed the Arabic terms in parenthesis. I have abbreviated the translation of the salutation on the Prophet as Muslims are required to recite the salutation every time his name is mentioned. Religious texts For translations of the Qur’anic verses I have used the following as my standard translation that are available from The Quranic Arabic Corpus website: The Quran: Arabic Text with Corresponding English Meanings (Sahih International) Almunatada Alislami, Abul Qasim Publishing House (1997). However, I have also relied on the following and adapted the meaning when I deemed it more suitable: The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall) Reprinted by Plume (1997). First published 1930. The Holy Quran: Translation and Commentary (Yusuf Ali) Reprinted by Islamic Vision (2001). First published 1934. The Noble Quran in the English Language (Mohsin Khan) King Fahd Printing Complex, Madinah, Saudi Arabia (1996). For translations of the Ḥadīths I have used the following as my standard translations available from Sunnah.com:
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