When is Abstaining from Treating a Patient Not Allowed for a Doctor:
a. It is not allowed for a doctor, who is working in a hospital, to not treat the patients coming to that hospital. For, by working there, he has accepted the responsibility of treating the patients of that hospital.
b. If a doctor runs a private clinic in a locality that is far away from other clinics and hospitals, it is necessary for him to take care of the needs of the patients of that area. He cannot ignore them without a proper Sharae'e excuse.
c. Similarly, in exceptional conditions such as wars, epidemic diseases, etc, it is not allowed for any doctor to abstain from treatment. In such cases, it is obligatory for all the doctors to continue their duties.
d. It will be compulsory for a doctor to extend first aid to a person lying on the road in an emergency condition.
It is not allowed for a doctor to abstain from treating patients in the conditions mentioned above; otherwise he will be accountable before God.
When is It Allowed for a Doctor to Refuse or Stop Treating a Patient:
1) If the patient does not follow the instructions of the doctor.
2) The patient consulted another doctor without recommendation of the previous one.
3) The doctor works under another person or he is busy in an emergency case.
4) It will bring harm or difficulty to the doctor if he treats the patient. If this harm or loss is negligible in comparison with the suffering of the patient, it will be necessary for him to treat the patient.
5) The doctor is busy treating another patient and he cannot leave that patient because of his critical condition.
6) The doctor himself is ill or he cannot reach the place where the patient is.
7) The patient can arrange another doctor who can provide him with medical treatment.
Saving a Person in a Life-Threatening Condition is Obligatory:
If a patient is about to die, it is necessary to provide him with the necessary initial medical treatment and save him. If a person protects a life, he earns the reward of this verse: “And whoever saves one life - it is as if he had saved the entire mankind.” (Surah Ma’idah: 32) This is also an act of cooperating in virtue. Such deeds have been encouraged in the Quran and Hadith.
The jurists of Islam are in agreement that protecting a person who is on the verge of death is obligatory (Wajib). For instance, if a person has food, and another person is dying of hunger, it will be compulsory to provide the hungry man with food. Similarly, if a person sees a blind man going towards a well and about to fall in it, it will be incumbent upon him to protect the blind man if he is able to do so. If there are other people too, and any of them protects him, it will be sufficient on behalf of all. If none of them protects him, all of them will be considered sinful.
The Messenger of Allahصلى الله عليه وسلم said, “There are three persons whom Allah will neither talk to nor look at, nor purify from (the sins), and they will have a painful punishment. One of them is a man with extra water on a journey but he didn't share it with the other needy travellers.” (Bukhari: 2672)
In the light of these reports and the texts of the jurists, if a person requires immediate treatment, it is compulsory for those who know the treatment to treat him. If any of them provided the treatment, it would be sufficient from all; otherwise all of them would be sinners.
Will the doctor be penalised for refusing to treat the patient despite the ability to do so?
There are two opinions in this regard:
The majority of the jurists from the Hanafi, Shafi’i, and according to one narration, the Hanbali schools are of the opinion that there is no penalty on him, the doctor did not directly or indirectly contribute to the patient’s death. However, he will be sinful.
The second opinion is that the doctor will be penalised. This is the view of the Maliki and Hanbali School. Imam Al-Nawawi and some others are of this opinion.
The ruling of International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddah is that the physician becomes liable for the harm that the patient encounters if he refrained from performing his medical duty in emergency cases. (Resolution No. 142 (8/15)
(Adapted from Mufti Abu Bakar Jaber Qasmi’s book ‘Islamic Guidance on Contemporary Medical Issues’)
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