Khidhir Faris — Islamic Religious Position & Treatment Wishes
6 June 2026
Ulama Board of Western Australia
Phone: 0406 626 349
Email: admin@ulama-board-wa.au
Date: 6 June 2026
To: The ICU Consultant, ICU Medical Team and Treating Specialists
Fiona Stanley Hospital
Murdoch WA 6150
Re: Khidhir FARIS — Islamic Religious Position, Personal Wishes and Treatment Decisions
Dear Doctors and ICU Team,
We write in our capacity as the Ulama (Islamic Scholars) Board of Western Australia, and as a religious representative familiar with the Islamic values and beliefs held by practising Muslims, including Mr Khidhir FARIS and his family.
The Ulama Board of Western Australia serves members of the Muslim community in Western Australia by supporting religious practice, providing Islamic guidance, and assisting families with matters involving faith, dignity, worship, family life, illness, and end-of-life concerns.
We have been asked to provide this letter concerning Mr Khidhir FARIS, a practising Muslim patient currently under the care of Fiona Stanley Hospital.
In Islam, human life is sacred. A Muslim is taught to preserve life, seek treatment, and continue striving with the body and soul for as long as there remains a meaningful opportunity to do so. While Muslims accept that life and death are ultimately in the hands of Allah, Islam also teaches that a person should not give up on life where treatment and care remain available.
We are instructed that Mr FARIS holds these Islamic values deeply. For him, the wish to continue fighting for his life is not merely a medical preference. It is a core religious and personal value connected to his faith, dignity, accountability before Allah, and his understanding of life and the afterlife.
Mr FARIS' family have advised us that he has consistently expressed, over many conversations, that he wishes to fight until the end and does not wish to give up. They have advised that this has been his longstanding position throughout his serious illness and repeated hospital admissions.
We have been further instructed that Mr FARIS previously travelled from Perth to Melbourne to obtain life-saving treatment, including treatment connected with lung transplantation, at a time when he was extremely unwell. His family have advised that this reflects his consistent and deeply held wish to pursue treatment, preserve life, and continue fighting.
His family have also advised that Mr FARIS has expressed that, if necessary, he would rather die while trying to survive, including during treatment or on the operating table, than have treatment withheld in a way that is inconsistent with his religious beliefs, personal dignity, and lifelong values.
It is very important to Mr FARIS, as a matter of both religious belief and personal dignity, that his religious and personal wishes be respected regardless of the outcome. His position is not based on a guarantee of survival. Rather, it is based on the importance of knowing that he remained true to his faith, his values, and his lifelong wish to fight until the end. Even if the eventual clinical outcome is poor, it remains of great religious and personal significance to him and his family that all reasonable life-sustaining and life-preserving treatment options are considered and pursued in a way that respects those wishes.
From an Islamic perspective, where treatment remains clinically available and there is a meaningful opportunity to preserve life, a patient's wish to continue treatment should be treated with the highest respect. For a practising Muslim such as Mr FARIS, a decision to withhold or limit treatment against his known wishes may cause serious religious, moral, and spiritual distress to him and his family.
We therefore respectfully ask that the ICU and treating medical team take Mr FARIS' Islamic beliefs, religious values, personal dignity, and previously expressed wishes into account when making any treatment decisions, including decisions about CPR, ventilation, escalation of care, surgery, or other life-sustaining treatment.
We also respectfully ask that Mr FARIS' religious and personal wishes be clearly documented in his medical notes and communicated to all members of the treating team. His wishes should be respected and considered regardless of the eventual clinical outcome.
We further ask that his family be included in all significant discussions, particularly where there are concerns about his capacity, English language limitations, sedation, confusion, or inability to properly communicate his wishes. His family are best placed to explain his longstanding religious values and previously expressed wishes.
This letter is provided so that the treating team understands that Mr FARIS' wish to fight until the end is a core Islamic and personal value. It is a value which should be respected, documented, and carefully considered in all decisions about his care.
Yours faithfully,
Usman Patel
Imam Usman Patel
Imam, Southern River Mosque
Phone: 0420 786 076
Email: Auswaldo124@gmail.com