What does Islam say about euthanasia and end-of-life care?

If you are thinking about ending your life, please call or text 988 in the US, call 116 123 (Samaritans) in the UK and Ireland, or your local emergency number. Naseeha (1-866-627-3342) offers confidential support for Muslims in North America.

Families who search what Islam says about euthanasia are often sitting beside a hospital bed, watching someone they love suffer. The tradition answers with two truths held together. Deliberately ending a patient’s life is forbidden, because every life is a trust (amāna) from Allah and its term is in His hands. And Islam never requires that dying be prolonged at any cost: treatment that can no longer heal may be withheld or withdrawn, pain should be eased, and the dying should be surrounded with tenderness and prayer.

Is euthanasia haram in Islam?

Sunni and Shia scholars agree that deliberately ending a patient’s life is forbidden, whether the patient asks for it or not. The Quran says:

وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوٓاْ أَنفُسَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمۡ رَحِيمٗا

“Do not kill yourselves. Allah has always been merciful to you.”

Quran 4:29

The verse closes with mercy, and the prohibition is itself a mercy. A life is never only the possession of the one living it. It belongs to Allah, who alone sets its term:

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفۡسٍ أَن تَمُوتَ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِ كِتَٰبٗا مُّؤَجَّلٗا

“No soul can die except by Allah’s leave, at a term written and fixed.”

Quran 3:145

The Prophet ﷺ also asked believers not to wish for death because of suffering, and to say instead, “O Allah, keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and take me when death is better for me” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5671). That teaching is explained in Is it haram to ask Allah for death?

The people who ask for euthanasia are usually moved by love and by the pain of watching. The tradition answers that love with a different mercy: relief from pain, the company of family, and the assurance that suffering borne in faith is never wasted. Even the Prophet ﷺ suffered greatly in his final illness. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said she had never seen anyone whose pain was more severe (Sahih al-Bukhari 5646).

Can Muslims stop life support or futile treatment?

Yes, when the treatment can no longer offer recovery. The Prophet ﷺ encouraged seeking treatment, but he did not make it binding in every case. A woman who suffered from seizures once asked him to pray for her healing, and he gave her a choice:

«إِنْ شِئْتِ صَبَرْتِ وَلَكِ الْجَنَّةُ وَإِنْ شِئْتِ دَعَوْتُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يُعَافِيَكِ»

“If you wish, be patient, and Paradise is yours. And if you wish, I will pray to Allah to heal you.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 5652

She chose patience. Commentators on Sahih al-Bukhari drew from this that a person may decline treatment and choose patience. If a sick person may decline a cure, then a patient near death may decline treatment that only lengthens dying, and a family may make that decision for a patient who can no longer speak, together with the doctors.

The difference between the two cases is real. Ending a life is an act that causes death. Withdrawing a machine or a treatment that cannot heal allows an illness to take its course, so that death comes at the time Allah has written. The decision should be made with the medical team, with clear information, and ideally with the counsel of a knowledgeable imam. Ordinary care continues to the end: cleanliness, comfort, gentle words, and relief from pain.

Is pain relief allowed at the end of life?

Yes, and it is a mercy. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah has not sent down a disease without sending down its remedy (Sahih al-Bukhari 5678), and relieving pain is one of medicine’s oldest tasks. Strong pain medicine given to ease suffering serves the patient, and “actions are judged by their intentions” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1). Palliative and hospice care, which treat pain, breathlessness, fear, and loneliness, carry forward the work of the great Islamic hospitals (bīmāristāns), as described in Does Islam support universal healthcare?

How should Muslims care for the dying?

Visiting and caring for the sick is among the most beloved acts in Islam. In a hadith qudsī, Allah will say on the Day of Resurrection:

«يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ مَرِضْتُ فَلَمْ تَعُدْنِي»

“Son of Adam, I was sick, and you did not visit Me.”

Sahih Muslim 2569

When the servant asks how he could visit the Lord of the worlds, Allah answers that had he visited His sick servant, he would have found Him there. Allah is present at the bedside.

• Stay close. Hold their hand, speak gently, and let them hear the voices of the people they love.
• Remind them of Allah gently. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Prompt your dying with lā ilāha illā Allāh” (Sahih Muslim 916a). Say it softly near them, without pressure.
• Fill the room with hope. Three days before his death the Prophet ﷺ said, “Let none of you die except thinking well of Allah” (Sahih Muslim 2877a). Recite Quran, speak of Allah’s mercy, and let the last days be full of hope.
• Care for the carers. Children caring for a dying parent fulfill the Quran’s prayer: “My Lord, have mercy on them as they cared for me when I was small” (17:24).

When death comes, the family turns to washing, prayer, and burial, described in What do Muslims do when someone dies? Some families also choose to honor a loved one’s wish to give life to others through organ donation.

A closing duʿāʾ

The end of a life is held by the same Lord who began it. May Allah grant every sick person relief and every dying person a gentle passing, give strength and patience to those who keep watch beside them, and gather them all in His mercy, which embraces all things.