QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Din and muftis of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: Is it permissible or impermissible for one to give CPR Support to a non-Mahram woman? –
This entails when one is suffering from a heart attack, so one must place his mouth on the patients mouth to make her breathe again and to press down on the patient’s chest to try and restart her heart beat, by doing this one is able to save the life of the patient, if this is not done as soon as possible then the patient will die before she reaches the doctor.
Questioner: Hamzah from Leeds (England)
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
With the intention of saving the life of a non-Mahram woman, it is permissible for one to perform CPR Support, because in this case one is touching the woman due to necessity. As our Islamic Jurists have given permission for the doctor to look at the place of illness of the non-Mahram female patient.
As it is mentioned in an authentic book of the Hanafi Fiqh Al-Hidaayah Shareef:
“وَ يَجُوْزُ لِلطَّبِيْبِ أَنْ يَّنْظُرَ إِلَى مَوْضِعِ الْمَرَضِ مِنْهَا لِلضَّرُوْرَةِ “
Translation: “And it is permissible for the doctor to look at the place of illness of the non-Mahram female patient, this permissibility is given due to necessity.”
(هدايه كتاب الكراهية ج4 ص60)
When one is to find a cure for the illness of a non-Mahram female patient which is located in the place of veiling for the woman which is forbidden islamically to look at, then permissibility may be given to look at the place of illness in this case.
Then to save one’s life is given a greater preference of granting permissibility; because the accepted rule is that:
” أَلْضَرُوْرَاتُ تُبِيْحُ الْمَحْظُوْرَاتِ “
Translation: “Necessity permits the impermissible”
To save a person’s life is a very important necessity, as to save one’s life it is as if one has saved the entire humanity. Like the Merciful Lord has mentioned in the Glorious Quran:
” وَ مَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيْعًا “
Translation: “And whoever saves the life of a single person, is as if he had saved the life of all mankind…”
(Surah Al-Maidah Verse 32)
واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by Bilal Shabir
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0508] What is the Islamic ruling on performing CPR to save a non-Mahram’s life?
Also see:
[Q-ID0667] Can a Pharmacist administer injections to females that are non-Mahram?
