Fatwa ID: 04265

Answered by: Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Question

A man had a heart operation and due to the machine being put down his throat and into the heart it damaged his voice box.  Now he cannot speak, or well. He can but the sound is like a whisper as he has lost his voice. According to the Shariah, can he sue the doctors, etc.?

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Firstly, please understand that the following answer is based on the information that you have provided. There may be other factors that have not been discussed, for example, previous medical conditions of the patient or the risk of the injury to the voice box being discussed and agreed to before the procedure.

Taking for granted that the information that you have brought is all that has to be considered, it will be permissible for the patient to sue those who are responsible due to the Shariah stating “It is not allowed to remove harm by replacing it with another harm.”[1]

The harms of the heart condition were removed but resulted in additional unexpected harm which is the injury to the person’s voice. Such circumstances of negligence or carelessness give allowance for compensation. You should also keep in mind that all conditions are only from Allah and that this condition is a test of your Sabr.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham