Islam and Euthanasia

When discussing the Islamic view on end-of-life issues, I believe that there is a key difference of scenarios when euthanasia would be accepted. The author mentions that the active killing of a terminally ill patient would be immoral while the withdrawing of life-support in which the disease is causing untreatable suffering would be deemed okay (779).

The difference in these scenarios is that there is a lack of will-power in one while the other lacks bodily strength. In the case of will-power, a primary theme within Islam is the idea of patience. Patience simply does not mean taking a passive stand on things and allowing evil to be done. Rather patience can be better defined as persevering through trials and tribulations when trying to fix the problem. When patients are afflicted with some sort of disease, if the bodily strength of the patient allows the person to live, then the patient should go in search of medical treatment that will either cure the disease or suppress the symptoms (i.e. pain). In the case of cancer, a patient is told that the cancer has spread so far that it will likely be fatal. This patient should go and seek out medicine that will benefit him by attempting to cure or relieve pain. This again goes with the divine promise that God has not created a disease without also creating a cure. However, after all possible avenues have been utilized in treating the patient, it would be okay for the patient to withhold any other medical care. This includes turning off the respirator which is a procedure that does not necessarily treat the patient. In this case if the patient was to die, even though it is considered passive euthanasia, it occurred due to lack in bodily strength which neither the patient nor the doctor could control.