Some doctors consider brain death to be the measure of a person’s actual death; even if the heart does not stop beating immediately, they conclude that it will inevitably stop after a while. What is the religious view on this matter? What if the patient remains in such a state under artificial respiration for a long time that it costs the patient’s family an exorbitant amount of money which they are unable to pay? Moreover, if they are unable to pay the treatment bills, healthcare and services will be withdrawn from the patient and result in their death?
The criterion for applying the term “dead” to a person insofar as the application of religious laws is concerned is when the average person considers them dead based on common view (urf). Yet, this criterion is not established based on what the question states. Moreover, if the patient’s family is not able to provide the treatment fees, then others must provide them, such that everyone who can afford it must contribute to sustaining the life of a Muslim. Similarly, a Muslim doctor must also refrain from turning off the life support equipment from the patient, and it will not harm them [they will not be held responsible] if someone else does.