If doctors advise to take machines away from a coma patient and they say he is brain dead, is this ok?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

As regards taking machines away from a sick person whom doctors ruled that his brain is dead but his heart is still beating, the scholars differed in opinion about it.

Some scholars are of the view that the death of the brain is considered a legitimate death and it is permissible to remove the machines from him on the condition that expert medical specialists rule that this brain is totally dead and cannot be revived. This is the view of the Islamic Fiqh Assembly.

Other scholars are of the view that it is not permissible to remove life support equipment from him while his heart is still beating and he is breathing, even if his brain is dead. A fatwa has already been issued in Islamweb stating that this is the preponderant opinion. Because in many cases, a person is diagnosed as being brain-dead and then he survives. Here are some examples:

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, in its website, stated on June 30th, 2000 that a British scientist, who is a heart attack medical specialist, concluded that a person is still conscious after the brain stops. He stated that he examined cases in which doctors said that the brain was dead, but they came back to life afterwards.

Shaykh Mohammed Mohammed Mokhtar Al-Shanqueeti stated in his book 'Ahkam Al Jiraahah At-Tibbiyyah (Rulings about Medical Surgery), that the scholar Bakr Abu Zayd said: “A group of doctors ruled that an eminent person was dead because the core of the brain was dead, and when they were about to take off some limbs of his body, his heirs objected, then Allah decreed that he is still alive until today.”

In addition to this, Al-Muslimoon newspaper in its 232-issue dated 11/12/1409 A.H., reported a similar story, and there are many other examples.

The book of Allah and the Sunnah of Prophet do not consider a person to be dead except if he is totally dead, and in principle, a person is still alive until the contrary is proven with certainty.

Therefore, the preponderant opinion in Islamweb is that it is not permissible to remove the machines from a patient just because his brain is dead.

For more benefit on withdrawing artificial fife support machines from a brain-dead patient, please refer to Fataawa 46609 and 414286.

Allah knows best.