The religious stand from separating conjoined twins

The condition of conjoined twins is a rare phenomenon, knowing that despite their conjunction, each one of the twins has his own desires and needs in life. Considering that Allah empowered all His creatures with a sense of independence in life, the conjoined twins too have the right to be separated if possible…

Some Islamic schools of thought defined twins as more than one fetus in one uterus, during pregnancy and upon deliverance, whether they were delivered at the same time or one was delivered before the other, regardless of the time interval… Yet, those schools overlooked the issue of conjoined twins, where the babies are delivered while fused to each other…

From the medical viewpoint, conjoined twins are the fruit of one fertilized ovum that has not completed its splitting process; thus, the twins remain fused from certain parts of their bodies. It is worth mentioning that the physicians consider the conjunction of twins as a congenital deformation. Some consider that not all the separation operations of conjoined twins are deemed lawful, unless the separation is possible, and it would not lead to the death of the twins or any harm with which they cannot cope, and if the separation was better and more beneficial to the twins, after taking their permission or their guardian’s permission, keeping in mind that one should consult specialized doctors about the probability of the success of an operation to separate them…

This issue is extremely important and delicate, and we hear nowadays about many cases of conjoined twins, which should drive the medical and social institutions to take the initiative to spread medical education and awareness on this issue, if such a phenomenon can be prevented beforehand, by benefitting from the medical scientific achievements in this respect to relieve the society from its negative repercussions…

From a religious viewpoint, the conjoined twins are considered as two independent individuals, even if they share a conjoined body. Thus, if separation can take place without causing any significant and extreme harm or damage, then separation should be done and the problem would be solved… However, if separation is not possible, then the conjoined twins should learn how to cope with each other and each should take the other’s rights into consideration, just as people should do… Moreover, each is deemed a Mukallaf in terms of the acts of worship and other religious duties, as well as the religious and public rights; for example, each of them enjoys the right to inheritance and private property.

[According to the religious jurisprudential opinions of His Eminence, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra)]