Health care for prisoners in Islam

Islam pays great attention to the matter of prisons and
the circumstances of prisoners; it is rare to find anything similar to this in any place
or time. The fuqahaa’ discussed in their books the rulings pertaining to prisoners,
their circumstances and how they should be treated. This concern stems from the Islamic
concern for the protection of man and respect for his humanity.

To make the matter easier to understand and to make the rulings more
clear, the scholars divided the subject-matter into two parts: the rulings pertaining to
the personal health of prisoners, and the rulings pertaining to health care in the place
that is used as a prison.

One: Rulings pertaining to the personal health of prisoners

1. Imprisoning a sick person. The fuqahaa’ discussed the matter of
   imprisoning a person who is sick in the first place – do the authorities have the
   right to imprison a sick person? The answer is that this is the matter of ijtihaad, and
   the final decision rests with the Qaadi (judge) who must weigh up the reason why this
   person is to be imprisoned, the seriousness of his disease and the possibility of taking
   care of him in jail. If sufficient health care is available for this sick person in
   prison, and he is not suffering a serious illness which could kill him if he is detained,
   it is permissible to imprison him. If such care is not available, the judge may hand him
   over to someone who can treat him and guard him, without releasing him completely, until
   it is possible to imprison him again.

2. If a prisoner becomes sick whilst in jail. If a prisoner becomes sick
   whilst in jail and it is possible to treat him there, then he must be treated without
   bringing him out. Doctors and servants should not be prevented from going in to see him,
   treat him and serve him. If not treating him leads to his death, criminal charges are to
   be laid against those who were the cause of that, and they are to be punished. The Prophet
   (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) passed by a prisoner who was in chains, and he
   called out, “O Muhammad, O Muhammad!” He came to him and said, “What is the
   matter?” He said, “I am hungry – feed me. I am thirsty – give me
   water.” The Prophet
   (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded that his
   needs should be met.

(Narrated by Muslim, 3/1263). And no doubt
medical treatment is what the sick person needs.

But if it is not possible to treat him inside the prison, he must be
taken out to a place where it is possible to treat him, under the supervision of the jail
or whoever is delegated to the task of watching and guarding him.

With regard to these rulings, the fuqahaa do not differentiate between
physical illness and psychological illness (true psychological illness, that is, as
opposed to the made-up psychological illness or the regular psychological illness which
many lawyers use as a means of getting criminals let off). Hence the fuqahaa’ (may
Allaah have mercy on them) stated that it is not permissible to lock the door on the
prisoner – so long as there is the certainty that he will not run away – or to
put him in a darkened room, or to harm him in any way or to do anything that will make him
terrified. His relatives should not be prevented from visiting him, because this will have
an effect on his health and psychology.

It is prescribed for the authorities or their representative to set up a
special medical wing in the prison, to take care of the prisoners’ health needs. This
will spare them the need to take them out to public hospitals and expose them to possible
insult and humiliation.

Prisoners should be allowed to see their wives and to have intimate
relations with them, if there is a suitable place for that in the jail, as a protection
for them and their wives.

The fuqahaa’ stated that it is obligatory to enable prisoners to do
wudoo’ and purify themselves, which is undoubtedly an important protective precaution
against sickness.

Two: Rulings pertaining to health care in the place that is used as a
prison

The place that is used as a prison should be spacious, clean,
well-ventilated, lit by natural sunlight, and furnished with the necessary facilities such
as washrooms, etc.

It is not permissible to gather such a large number of prisoners in one
place that they will not be able to do wudoo’ and pray.

Three: there follow some of the things which the fuqahaa’ stated
it is haraam to use when disciplining or dealing with prisoners:

1. Mutilating the body: it is not permitted to punish a prisoner by cutting
   off any part of his body or breaking any of his bones. The Prophet
   (peace and blessings
   of Allaah be upon him) forbade mutilation of prisoners-of-war and said: “Do not
   mutilate.”

(Narrated by Muslim, 3/1357).

Hitting the face, etc., because of the humiliation involved. By the same
token, it is not permitted to put chains on prisoners’ necks or to lay them on the
ground to whip them, even if this is the hadd (Islamic punishment) prescribed for them,
because this involves humiliation and harms their health and bodies.

Punishment by fire, strangulation or holding a prisoner’s head
under water – except in cases of qasaas and where the punishment needs to fit
the crime. For example, if a person has committed aggression against another by burning
him, it is permissible to exact retribution against him in the same manner.

Starving prisoners or exposing them to the cold, or feeding them harmful
things, or preventing them from wearing clothes. If a prisoner dies because of such
things, his jailer may be executed in retribution (qasaas) or be required to pay
diyah (blood money).

Removing prisoners’ clothing, because this uncovers their
‘awrah and exposes them to physical and psychological illness.

Preventing them from relieving themselves, doing wudoo’ and
praying. It is obvious that this is harmful to the prisoners’ health.

Examples of Muslims’ concern for prisoners:

The hadeeth mentioned above shows how the Prophet
(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) issued commands that prisoners should be cared for and their needs
for food and drink met. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) often
used to hand prisoners over to his companions and urge them to treat them well.

The Rightly-Guided Khaleefah ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be
pleased with him) used to inspect the prisons, meet the prisoners in them and enquire
about their circumstances.

‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez, the fifth Rightly-Guided
Khaleefah, used to write to his employees, telling them to see how the prisoners were and
to take care of the sick among them.

The ‘Abbaasi khaleefah al-Mu’tadid allocated 1500 dinars of
the monthly budget to be spent on the needs and medical treatment of prisoners.

When the ‘Abbaasi khaleefah al-Muqtadir imprisoned one of his
wazeers, Ibn Muqlah, the wazeer got sick. So the khaleefah sent the famous doctor Thaabit
ibn Sinaan ibn Thaabit ibn Qurrah to treat him in jail, and he urged him to treat him
well. The doctor used to feed him with his own hand and treated him very kindly.

At the time of the khaleefah al-Muqtadir, the wazeer ‘Ali ibn
‘Eesaa al-Jarraah wrote to the head of the hospitals of Iraq at that time, telling
him: “I have been thinking, may Allaah grant you long life, about those who are in
prison. With their large numbers and rough accommodation, they are not free from disease.
They are prevented from doing things which will benefit them and meeting with doctors whom
they can consult about the sicknesses they are exposed to. So you have to appoint doctors
for them who will go in and see them every day and take them medicine and drinks, and who
will go around to all the jails and treat the sick in them and prescribe medicine for
them.” This care lasted throughout the khilaafah of al-Muqtadir, al-Qaahir, al-Raadi
and al-Muttaqi.

For more information, please see: Ahkaam al-Sijn wa Mu’aamilat
al-Sujanaa’ fi’l-Islam, p. 367-379; al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah,
part 16, p. 320-327

And Allaah knows best.