Mr. S.A. Farooqi asks whether it is permissible to resort to advanced medicine for treatment on a day-to-day basis. I am not sure what he means by advanced medicine. If he means the new methods using sophisticated technology, then the matter depends on each particular method and the purpose for which it is used.

There is no harm in using advanced technology for diagnostic and curative purposes, when the advanced technology means using machines or methods that help with the diagnosis of the case. It is perfectly permissible to use, for example, MRI or scanning.

But when it comes to interference with the way God has created us, as happens in genetic engineering, then each case should be looked at separately. We cannot give a blanket verdict. There are social and ethical issues involved. Hence, each method, technique and case should be studied on its merit.

A second question of my reader asks whether it is permissible to resort to methods like organ transplant when the surgeon states that the chances of success are no more than 50-50. I take it that what he means by giving this rate of chances of success that the patient has an equal chance of survival and death after the operation. There are several points here. The first concerns the permissibility of organ transplant. The answer given by scholars is that it is permissible to transplant organs taken from dead people to try to save the life of a patient. Taking organs from a living donor is far more complex, depending on the effects of the transplant on both the donor and the recipient of the organ. Again here we need to study the case on its merits.

In any method of treatment, resorting to it is a matter of choice. The Prophet has told us to seek medical treatment for our illnesses. This is the proper attitude, but it is not obligatory. Moreover, when one has consulted a doctor and the doctor prescribes a medicine or a method of treatment, the patient is free not to take the treatment even though it makes his recovery more likely.

If he does not take the treatment and dies, he is not considered to have committed a sin. If someone is told by his doctors that the only cure available is to have a heart transplant, and he decides not to have it done, he does not commit a sin by such refusal.

The third question the reader asks is whether watching the pilgrimage rituals, or taraweeh prayer on television is permissible. Yes, indeed it is. Moreover it may earn a reward from God.