Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Seyyed Reza Ehsanpour ¹
• Javad Habibi ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Law Department, Faculty of Humanities, Ghaemshahr Islamic Azad University, Ghaemshahr, Iran

Abstract

The desire for immortality is in human nature; Hence, man makes every effort to live eternally. One of the scientific hypotheses related to prolonging life is the cryonics of incurable patients. In this method, scientists freeze the patient's body and put her into a deep sleep in the hope that after discovering the definitive treatment methods in the future, they will bring her back to life. This practice as an emerging phenomenon has provoked various issues from a moral, legal and jurisprudential point of view. Some jurists, arguing that cryonic performance means the end of the patient's life is incurable and there is no certainty in the patient's resuscitation in the future, the patient's attempt to do so is a case of concussion and suicide and its execution by doctors have been considered a case of murder. Some jurists, assuming that the cryonics patient is alive, have considered it haram because the intentional creation of this condition prevents her from performing her religious duties. On the other hand, some jurists, citing the rule of the necessity of preserving human life and kingship over the soul, have considered the implementation of this operation permissible on the condition of ensuring the patient's life and the necessity of preserving her soul. It seems that since frostbite does not mean taking the life of the patient alive, but it is a big step to save her life, and since the implementation of this method is necessary as the only way to continue her life, the promise of the jurists of the latter category is paramount.

Keywords

• Self-Preservation
• Suicide
• Murder
• Cryonics
• Necessity