This has been worrying my mum quite a bit recetly..... post-mortems? Is it performed on all deaths? or only on suspicious deaths? Deaths at home? Sudden deaths?....etc, the list goes on!
The question is: "If I were to die at home, would a post-mortem be performed? Is it allowed islamically? And is there any way to 'opt' and say that I don't want a post-mortem in the event of a sudden death?"
Whats the law? Both islamically and in GB?
I hope that all made sense, if not please let me know and I will try and clarify a bit more inshaAllah!
I don't know about the law in the U.K but any suspicious death of an otherwise healthy person goes to the county coroner .. any hospital death that is the result of the negligence of the hospital staff goes to the hospital pathologist but needs to be signed on and approved by the family.. in other words, if a person is homeless or had a sudden unexpected death which casts doubt to foul play- the body is the property of the state which has to determine the cause of death to apprehend criminals if they are responsible..
if unexpected death at hospital and foul play is suspected then goes to the hospital pathologist.
you always have a right to write your wishes and have them authenticated by a lawyer and a notary to the wishes you want for your body after death.. and so if you don't desire a post mortem even in case of foul play, then you can have that in your advance directives
I think Islamically if it is not needed as in the suspicion of a murder or something ( maybe even in that case, need to confirm) then it is not allowed as it is the voilation of the body. InshaAllah i will post references here.
It says in the statements of the Islamic Fiqh Council in Makkah al-Mukarramah, quoting from Fiqh al-Nawaazil by al-Jayzaani (4/208-209):
Based on necessities which call for dissection or autopsy of the dead body and in which dissection or autopsy serves an interest which outweighs the concern about violating the sanctity of the deceased, the Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League has determined the following:
1 – It is permissible to dissect a dead body for one of the following purposes:
(a) Examination in the case of a criminal investigation to find out the causes of death or what crime was committed; that is when the qaadi (judge) is uncertain of the causes of death and thinks that dissection or autopsy is the way to find out these causes.
(b) Investigation of diseases in cases where dissection or autopsy is called for so that in the light of this post mortem examination, precautions may be taken or suitable treatments may be determined for those diseases.
(c) Learning and teaching medicine as is done in schools of medicine.
It says in the statements of the Islamic Fiqh Council in Makkah al-Mukarramah, quoting from Fiqh al-Nawaazil by al-Jayzaani (4/208-209):
Based on necessities which call for dissection or autopsy of the dead body and in which dissection or autopsy serves an interest which outweighs the concern about violating the sanctity of the deceased, the Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League has determined the following:
1 – It is permissible to dissect a dead body for one of the following purposes:
(a) Examination in the case of a criminal investigation to find out the causes of death or what crime was committed; that is when the qaadi (judge) is uncertain of the causes of death and thinks that dissection or autopsy is the way to find out these causes.
(b) Investigation of diseases in cases where dissection or autopsy is called for so that in the light of this post mortem examination, precautions may be taken or suitable treatments may be determined for those diseases.
(c) Learning and teaching medicine as is done in schools of medicine.
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