Fatawa al-Tibb wa al-Marda
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- Editions
- General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta
Fatawa al-Tibb wa al-Marda (Legal Rulings on Medicine and Patients, also known as al-Fatawa al-Muta'alliqah bi al-Tibb wa Ahkam al-Marda) is an Arabic compendium of Islamic legal verdicts concerning medicine, medical treatments, and the religious rulings governing patients and healthcare practitioners.
Compilation and Authorship
The collection compiles legal rulings (fatawa) issued by prominent Saudi scholars and consultative bodies, notably Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh, Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, and the members of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta and the Council of Senior Scholars. The selection and arrangement of the work was supervised by Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan, a member of the Permanent Committee. The book features introductory prefaces by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah Al al-Shaykh, and by Salih al-Fawzan.
Scope and Purpose
The work was prepared and published by the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta to provide guidance on Islamic legal questions arising in healthcare contexts, particularly for distribution across hospitals to assist patients and medical staff, as well as researchers and students of Islamic law.
Its contents cover a wide range of practical legal topics, including:
- Ritual Purity (Taharah): Rulings regarding dry ablution (tayammum) using dust or earth within hospital rooms, and the purification of incapacitated patients.
- Prayer (Salah): How patients should perform prayers according to their physical capacity—standing, sitting, or lying down—as well as combining prayers or making up prayers missed due to surgery, medication, or loss of consciousness.
- Medical Practice and Rulings: Legal guidelines concerning medicines, treatments, and the boundary between medical consultation and religious verdicts, stipulating that patients must consult qualified religious scholars for legal rulings rather than relying on physicians for religious decrees.
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