Title: About Euthanasia or Mercy Killings Question: I was wondering brother if you could tell me your thoughts on the issue of euthanasia and mercy killing and how a Muslim should address these issues. Answer: The Muslim faith holds God to be ever active in running the affairs of the world as well as each individual life. We believe that God is not only omnipotent and omniscient but also that He is most merciful and all His actions, whether we understand them or not, are full of wisdom. We believe that all the good as well as the bad times come on us as planned and allowed by Him. We believe that prosperity as well as suffering are parts of our test, which we have been put in by the ever merciful Himself. We believe that in times of prosperity, we are being tested for our gratitude and in times of suffering we are being tested for our steadfastness. We believe that the starting as well as the ending of our test is solely in the hands of Him who has put us in this test. If this is really the case, then true success can be achieved only if we continue to present ourselves as a true picture of contentment, under all circumstances, till such time that God decides on terminating our test - at our death. To clarify my point of view regarding euthanasia, I would like you to consider the following two cases: If a person can live only with the aid of artificial means, removing these artificial means, at the risk of the death of the individual, is not taking life - it is simply not sustaining it. Thus, if euthanasia means to stop sustaining life that can only be sustained through artificial means, then there is nothing wrong with it. If a person is put to sleep to avoid the pain and suffering that he is likely to suffer if he is allowed to live, then this would be taking life. In my opinion, this cannot be allowed in a Muslim society. The time of a person's death and the amount of suffering that he must go through is for God, the most wise and the ever merciful to decide. Man, with the knowledge that he has gained in the field of medicine, must try to find cures to all the diseases and also try to make a death as painless as possible. However, deciding about the time of a person's death is not man's jurisdiction, according to the Muslim faith. I do appreciate that it would be difficult for people who do not believe God to be wise and merciful, to comprehend my point of view. Nevertheless, if a person believes in the knowledge, wisdom, mercy and love of God for the human beings then he cannot approve of euthanasia, or any thing that refutes his beliefs. 2 nd May 1998