Matters of Life and Death
Christianity and Islam
Key Words
Abortion
The removal of a foetus from a womb before
it can survive
Assisted
Providing a seriously ill person with the
Suicide
means to commit suicide
Euthanasia
The painless killing of someone dying from a
painful disease
Immortality of The idea that the soul lives on after the
the soul
death of the body
Near death
When someone about to die has a near
experience
death experience
Non voluntary Ending someone’s life painlessly when they
euthanasia
are unable to ask but you have good reason
for thinking they would want you to do so
Paranormal
Unexplained things which are thought to
have spiritual causes e.g ghosts and mediums
Quality of life The idea that life must have some benefits
for it to be worth living
Reincarnation The belief that after death, souls are reborn
in a new body
Resurrection The belief that, after death, the body stays in
the grave until the end of the world when it
is raised
Sanctity of Life The belief that life is holy and belongs to God
Voluntary
Ending life painlessly when someone in great
Euthanasia
pain asks for death
Christian beliefs about life after death
Main Points
Christians believe that this life is not all there is and they believe that in the afterlife God will reward
the good and punish the bad in some form.
Some Christians believe that when you die your soul will go straight to heaven. This is called
immortality of the soul. Other Christians believe that when you die your body will remain in the
grave until it is raised. This is called resurrection of the body.
All Christians believe in life and death because:
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The main Christian belief is that Jesus rose from the dead. All four gospels in the Bible talk
about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus so Christians believe that this proves that
there is life after death
St Paul said that we will all be resurrected just like Jesus was
The Church teaches that there is life after death as the apostles creed is ‘I believe in the
resurrection of the body and the life everlasting’
In the parable of the sheep and goats Jesus said that at the end of the world he will judge
everyone on how they have lived their lives on Earth. If they have fed the hungry, clothed
the naked and visited the sick then they will have eternal life. If they haven’t they will go to
hell
Many Christians believe that people are made up of a body and a soul and the soul will
never die. They believe that the soul lives on after death
Jesus spoke about life after death and said ‘in my father’s house there are many rooms, I am
going there to prepare a place for you’
Many Christians believe in life after death because it gives their life meaning and purpose
Many Christians believe that life after death is the only place where the good can be
rewarded and the bad will be punished. It is the only place where true justice is achieved.
How Christian beliefs about life and death affect
the lives of Christians
Christians believe that what happens
when they die is a result on how they
have lived their life.
Living a good Christian life means
loving God and loving your
neighbour as yourself
This means that a Christian will try to live a good life and follow
Christian teachings so that when they die they will go to heaven
This will affect the life of a Christian as they will try to love God
by praying everyday and worshipping God on a Sunday. They
will also do good things to others to love their neighbour
In the parable of the sheep and
the goats, Jesus taught that we
should feed the hungry, clothe the
 visit the sick and we
naked and
will have eternal life.
Christians must make sure that they help others throughout
life like Jesus told them to do in the parable of the sheep and
the goats. They should do everything that it takes to love their
neighbour so this could mean giving up their time to help
others and giving money to charities
This means that a Christian should do all that they can to avoid
committing sins so that they will go to heaven when they die
Some Christians believe that those
who die with unforgiving sins will go
to hell
Islam and life after death
Main Points:
Muslims believe in life after death and the word for life after death is Akhirah
Why Muslims believe in life after death
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The Qur’an teaches that there is life after death and the Qur’an is the word of God and its
teachings are true
Muhammad taught that there is life after death and Muhammad is the main prophet whose
teachings should be followed as an example
Belief in life after death is one of the 6 fundamental beliefs of Islam
Muslims believe that life is a test from God and this must involve judgement at the end of
the world when the trumpet sounds. Muslims will believe that they will be judged on how
they have lived their life and judgement can only happen in an afterlife
Many Muslims believe that believing in life after death gives their life meaning and purpose
How Muslim beliefs about life and death affect the
lives of Muslims
Islam teaches that one the last day, all humans
will be judged by God. Those who have lived
good Muslim lives will go to paradise and those
who have not will go to hell
Living a good Muslim life means
keeping the 5 pillars of Islam
This affects Muslim lives because they must try
to live a good Muslim life to avoid going to hell
If the pray 5 times a day, fast during Ramadan, paying zakah go
on hajj then it will have a big effect on their lives and they will
go to heaven for being a good Muslim
Living a good Muslim life also
means eating halal food and
observing Muslim dress laws as
 drinking alcohol
well as not
If Muslims do all this then they will go to heaven as they have
passed the test and being good Muslims
Muslim beliefs about life after
death gives their life meaning and
purpose
In surveys Muslims actually suffer less from depression than
atheists and agnostics – Also if they no there is an afterlife they
will aim to get to the nice part of it by being good
Non religious reasons for believing in life after
death
Near Death Experiences
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This is when someone is clinically
dead for a time and then comes back
to life, and can remember what
happened. Research by doctors in
Britain, Holland and USA has shown
that about 8% of these cases have a
near death experience
The main features of a near death
experiences are: feelings of peace,
floating above the body, seeing a
bright light, entering a heavenly
place and seeing dead relatives.
Evidence of a spirit world
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Many people think of ghosts and ouiji boards as evidence for
a spirit world, but the clearest evidence comes from
mediums. A medium is a person who claims to be able to
communicate between our material world and a spirit world
where the spirits of the dead live
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There are mediums in all countries and in all religions. They
frequently on TV such as Living TV. Most mediums claim that
religious leaders like Jesus and Muhammad were in touch
with the spirit world.
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They claim that the spirit world gives a second chance at life
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Mediums contact people and get information that they could
never have known unless they had contacted the dead
The evidence of reincarnation
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Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists believe in reincarnation and have collected much evidence for this happened
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People have vivid memories from their past life and when they have researched into it their memories have
been correct (remember Nicola in the documentary that we watched)
The Nature of Abortion
The law
The law says that abortion is only allowed if two doctors agree that:
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The mothers life is at risk
The mothers physical health or mental health is at risk
The child is very likely to be born severely handicapped
There would be a serious effect on other children in the family
Abortions cannot be carried out after 24 weeks of pregnancy – This is called the point of
viability
Why abortion is a controversial issue
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Many people believe that life begins at conception (when the sperm meets the egg).
Therefore abortion is taking a human life
Many people believe that life begins when the foetus is able to live outside the mother.
Therefore abortion is not taking life
Many non religious people believe that a woman should have the right to do what she wants
to do with her own body. They might argue that the unwanted foetus is no different from an
unwanted tumour
Many religious people believe that the unborn child’s right to life is greater than the mothers
rights
Some people argue that the time limit should be reduced to 18 or 20 weeks because of
medical advances
There are also arguments about whether medical staff should have to carry out abortions
Christian attitudes to abortion
All Christians:
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Think that abortion is wrong
Think that only God can give and take a life
Believe in the Sanctity of Life (all life is holy and belongs to God)
BUT THERE ARE DIFFERENT ATTITIDES AMONGST CHRISTIANS
Roman Catholic Christians
Church of England Christians
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Abortion is always wrong
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Abortion is always wrong
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Only God can give and take a life
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Only God can give and take a life
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They believe in the sanctity of life (all life is holy
and belongs to God)
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They believe in the sanctity of life (all
life is holy and belongs to God)
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Abortion is murder (Thou shalt not kill)
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Abortion is murder (thou shalt not kill)
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Abortion is always wrong (absolute morality) they
will never change their mind because life begins at
conception
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They believe that Jesus taught us to
‘love our neighbour’ and so sometimes
abortion is the most loving thing
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You should always have the baby even if you have
been raped. You can always give it up for abortion
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They believe that counselling, help and adoption
are the treatment for pregnancy as a result of
rape, not abortion. This shows that good things
can come from unwanted pregnancies
Jesus taught compassion and
sometimes abortion is the lesser of two
evils such as when someone has been
raped
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The Sanctity of life can be broken in
things like just war so why not
abortion?
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They believe it is the duty of Christians
to remove suffering
Muslim attitudes to abortion
There are three different attitudes to abortion in Islam
View 1:
Although many Muslims believe
abortion should be
discouraged, they will allow
abortion up to 120 days of the
pregnancy for such reasons as
the health of the mother or
problems with the babies
health
Because:
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Some hadith (Muslim law) states that a foetus does not
become life until 120 of the pregnancy
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The mothers life must always take priority over the life of an
unborn child
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They believe that the foetus does not have a soul until 120
days into the pregnancy
View 2
Because:
Some Muslims believe
that abortion should
never be allowed
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They believe that life begins at conception
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The Qur’an says that murder is wrong and they believe abortion is
murder
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They believe the Qur’an bans abortion
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They believe they will be judged at the end of the world, as this life is
a test from Allah
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They believe in the sanctity of life – all life is holy and belongs to God
View 3
Because:
Some Muslims believe
that abortion is allowed
only if the mothers life
is at risk
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They believe that the death of the unborn child is the lesser of two
evils than the death of the mother
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The shari’ah law says that a mother’s life should always be protected
The nature of euthanasia
Euthanasia is normally thought of as providing a gentle death to someone who is suffering from a
painful and deadly disease and has no quality of life. This can be done by assisted suicide, voluntary
euthanasia and non voluntary euthanasia.
British law says that all of these methods of euthanasia are murder. However the law agrees that
stopping artificial feeding or not giving treatment are not euthanasia so are allowed.
Why Euthanasia is a controversial issue
Many people want euthanasia to remain illegal because:
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There is always likely to be doubt that its what the
person really wants
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If you kill the person a cure may be found
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It is the job of a doctor to save a person’s life not
end a person’s life. Would patients trust their
doctors?
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Many people want euthanasia to be made legal because:
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Discoveries in modern medicine mean that people
are being kept alive, often in agony and should have
the right to die
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You can stop the suffering of your pet so why not
your loved one
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People might change their mind and then its too
late
People have the right to commit suicide so why not
have the right to euthanasia
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People might be killed for their money and then say
it was euthanasia
A person should be allowed to die with dignity when
they want to die
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You can switch off life support and stop treatment
Christian attitudes to euthanasia
Although all Christians believe that euthanasia is wrong, there are three slightly different attitudes
Some Christians believe
that euthanasia is wrong
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They believe in the sanctity of life, life is created by God and so it is up
to God to end a life not humans
but they do think that
switching off a life
support machine and not
giving treatment is ok.
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They regard euthanasia as murder and this is a sin ‘thou shalt not kill’
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If doctors say that someone is brain dead then God has already let them
die so switching off a life support machine is doing what God wants
Giving pain relief is also
ok
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Painkillers help a person, the intention of giving them is to relieve the
pain not murder them and is a way of loving your neighbour and
treating others the way you wish to be treated
Some Christians believe
that all forms of
euthanasia are wrong
including switching off
life support machines
and giving extra pain
killers
A few Christians
accept euthanasia in
some circumstances
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They take the Bible teachings literally and the Bible forbids suicide
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One of the 10 commandments is ‘thou shalt not kill’ and euthanasia is
seen as murder
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Life is sacred and only God can give and take a life (sanctity of life)
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Switching off life support machines is still euthanasia and is playing
God.
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Medical advances make it hard to know what God’s wishes are, God may
want someone to die but doctors are keeping them alive
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The teaching of Love Your Neighbour can be used to justify assisting
suicide as its the most loving thing to do (situation ethics)
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It is a basic human right to have control over your body and what people
do to it. If people have the right to refuse medical treatment then why
can’t they have the right to ask for euthanasia
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It is a way of following Jesus’ Golden Rule of ‘treat others the way you
wish to be treated’
Islam and Euthanasia
All Muslims think that euthanasia is wrong but there are two slightly different attitudes to it
Most Muslims are
against all forms of
euthanasia
Some Muslims agree
that euthanasia is
wrong but think
switching off a life
support machine is
not euthanasia
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The Qur’an bans suicide and so assisted suicide is wrong (and the
Qur’an is the word of God)
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Euthanasia is making yourself equal with God, which is the greatest sin
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Euthanasia is murder and murder is banned in the Qur’an which is the
word of God
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Muslims believe that this life is a test and to use euthanasia is
cheating on the test – remember what happened to the Muslim
solider who committed suicide on the battle field to end his suffering?
He was not allowed into heaven. Suffering is part of this test
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Some Muslim lawyers have agreed to switch off life support machines
when there is no sign of life
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If someone is brain dead then God has already taken their life
The media and matters of life and death
The media should be free to criticise what
religions say about matters of life and death
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Some people believe that criticising what religions
say on matters of life and death is a way of stirring
up religious hatred. The media can show religions in
a bad light (Islam)
Many religious believers think the freedom of the
media should be limited because of the offense
criticism of religious attitudes can bring e.g the
paper that drew Muhammad
Some religions believe that criticising what religions
The media should not be free to criticise what
religions say about matters of life and death
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Freedom of expression is a human right which is
needed for a democracy to work. People need to
know what is going on in the world
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If religious leaders use the media to make
statements about matters of life and death they
need to be prepared to have those statements
criticised
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In a multi faith society such as the UK there needs to
be freedom of religious belief and expression. This
say about life and death issues is close to the crime
of blasphemy
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Some people believe that religious statements are
based on what God says and are beyond human
criticism
means that the media must have the right to
question and even criticise not only religious belies
but what religions say about life and death issues
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Life and death issues are so important to everyone
that people want to know what is the right view. This
could not be done if religions were allowed to put
forward views that no one could criticise