today we're going to look at why the
Holy Koran decrees that death is when
there is no brainstem function not when
your heart lungs or other organs stop to
start let's take a look at something
that has been the stuff of nightmares
and horror films for decades it's the
story of some poor soul who for whatever
reason has been declared dead and buried
Six Feet Under
but they're still alive now if you think
this story can only happen in a horror
movie you'd be dead wrong pun intended
one look at recent stories right from
the news proves it a woman who gave
birth three months after she was
pronounced dead another who was still
alive when she was put into a body bag
in the morgue and subsequently froze to
death why do these horrific cases exist
because of this alarming fact there are
no universal guidelines for doctors when
it comes to declaring a person dead yes
you heard that correctly even among
doctors the definition of death isn't
fully agreed upon you're dead
when a doctor says you're dead a person
can be pronounced dead if their heart
stops but they can also be revived in
many cases people can also be kept alive
with machines even though their brain
stem has 0% functionality in 2013 a
study showed that in cases where CPR is
used it should be administered for at
least 38 minutes because a person can
still be revived for that amount of time
with no lasting brain injury in many
cases but here's where the difference is
and it's very important once the brain
stem permanently stops functioning
there's no way of reversing it no matter
what happens that person's heart would
eventually stop beating even if a
ventilator is used the most important
fact to remember about the brain is this
it bestows upon us the one thing that
makes us truly a human consciousness
with that fact in mind the irreversible
loss of consciousness can and should be
defined as death and vice versa
now here's another fact that might
surprise you when you sleep your
brainstem is inactive and there are
those who argue that sleep is also a
loss of consciousness due to the
inactivity of the brainstem affecting
neurons when a person is
leapin the brain stem also becomes
inactive when a person dies causing a
loss of consciousness as well while they
might seem like identical definitions
there's one difference loss of
consciousness during sleep is reversible
by loss of consciousness due to death is
irreversible and it's for this very
specific reason that doctors when
declaring a patient dead should limit
their declaration to the state of the
brainstem and nothing else in effect as
the holy quran pointed out 1400 years
ago sleep is like death and death like
sleep verse 1 it is he Allah who takes
your souls by night when you're asleep
and has knowledge of all that you've
done by day then he raises wakes you up
again that a term appointed your life
period be fulfilled then in the end unto
him will be your return then he will
inform you what you used to do verse 2
Allah God takes the souls at the time of
their death and that which has not died
in its sleep he withholds that against
which he has decreed death but loses the
other till a stated term surely in that
are signs for a people who think deeply
think about that for a moment 1400 years
ago the holy quran already had a
specific unquestionable definition for
death namely when the brainstem no
longer functions it has nothing to do
with heart function whether the person
can breathe or any other bodily
functions or organs what this means is
that around the world millions of people
have been declared dead when in fact
they were not
that is why in the interests of human
rights Muslims believe that doctors
should only consider a patient dead if
their brain stem has completely stopped
working until that point any and all
measures should be taken to keep them
alive and not pronounce them dead simply
because their hearts breathing or other
functions have stopped the first and
foremost Quranic verses say that all
humans have the basic right to live and
that human life should be respected yes
when we sleep the brain stem effector
neurons stop functioning for a short
time but then we wake up one thing to
keep in mind that is very important to
this issue is that it was discovered by
mckylie and citizen in scholarpedia in
2008 that when we sleep the effector
neurons in our brain stem become
hyperpolarize and have nearly no action
potentials it's for this reason that
before sleeping every night you should
pray that your brain stem neurons are
depolarized so that you may once again
wake up and enjoy another day why not
make sure that everyone around the world
has the chance to wake up by following
the holy quran and only declaring
someone dead if their brain stem has
permanently stopped nothing else by the
way until the 1950s death was considered
to be the point when any one of the
vital functions heartbeat or respiration
ceased this is what according to dr.
James Burnett a neurologist at Dartmouth
College's Geisel School of Medicine in
New Hampshire stated in his speech in
LiveScience
on June the 19th 2014 it wasn't until
1959 that the two French neurologists
Maurice Kooyong and Pierre Muller a
changed the definition of death by
defining it based on neurological
criteria instead of cardio pulmonary
criteria they really saved us from being
buried alive by stating a specific
unquestionable definition for death the
irreversible loss of consciousness can
and should be defined as death but this
took place in only 1959 the Holy Quran
however stated its specific
unquestionable definition for death the
irreversible loss of consciousness can
and should be defined as death 1,400
years ago in order to truly respect
human life we need to agree on a
universal definition of death and just
as the Quran has shown us that
definition should be based on the brain
stem of the person in question
permanently stopping nothing more
nothing less
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