Organ transplant
A sound understanding of organ transplant would also provide the Islamic perspective on post-mortem
Organ transplant here means the transfer of organs from one human to another, such as the transplant of a hand, a kidney, or a heart. The transfer of one organ or more from a person during his life or after his death to another person has the following sharii rules:
A. Transfer of organs during the life of the donor: It is allowed for a person during his life to donate an organ or more, with his free will, to another person who needs the donated organ, like the hand or kidney. This is because the person has a legal (sharii) authority ,if his hand was severed or his eye was removed by another person; he can take the ‘‘diya’‘ (blood money), or he can forgive for severing his hand or taking out his eye. The fact that he is allowed to forgive the severance of his hand or removal of his eye means that he can donate the ‘‘diya’‘; this means that the person owns the ‘‘diya’‘ and, therefore, he owns the organ which he donates its ‘‘diya’‘. The fact that he owns his organs means that he has the right to act on them. Therefore, that person can donate his organ to somebody who needs it. Allah has allowed forgiveness for qisas and diyat. He said: ‘‘But if the relatives (or one of them) of the killed (person) forgive their brother (the killer) something (i.e. not to kill the killer by accepting the blood money in intentional murders) then the relatives should demand blood money in a reasonable manner, and the killer must pay with handsome gratitude. This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord.’‘
Conditions for donating organs during the person's lifetime:
It is a requirement for somebody who is donating an organ during his life that the organ should not be vital for his own life. His life should not depend on it, such as his heart, liver or lungs. This is so, because donating such an organ will cause death to that person, and he will be killing himself. It is not allowed for a person to kill himself, or to allow somebody else to kill him with his consent. Allah Says: ‘‘Do not kill yourselves.’‘ He also said: ‘‘And do not kill the soul that Allah has prohibited except by truth.’‘ This includes killing others and also killing oneself. Imam Muslim narrates that Thabit Ibn Addahak said that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘... and whoever kills himself with a tool, then Allah will punish him with that tool in hell fire.’‘ Imams Bukhari and Muslim narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayra that he said that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘Any one who throws himself from a mountain to kill himself, then he is in hill fire.’‘
It is not allowed for a person to donate his testicles, even if donating them does not lead to his death. This is so, because the Prophet peace be upon him disallowed castration which makes a person impotent. Imam Bukhari narrates that Abdullah Ibn Masood said: ‘‘We used to go with the Prophet peace be upon him on expeditions and we did not have our women; so we asked him: Can we castrate ourselves? He did not allow us to do it.’‘ This same ruling applies to donating one testicle, even if it does not make the person impotent. This is because the sexual cells are the cells of the reproductive organs which are the testicle for the male and the ovary for the female, which produce children. The offspring of the person comes from the sexual cells. In the testicle, there exist the cells that make the sperms; it is the factory that makes the sperms. The testicle is the storage place and the factory that produces the sperms from its cells. This is regardless if it is still with the original owner or with the person that it was transferred to. As a result, the children produced by the person who received the testicle, will have the chromosomes (which carry the characteristics to be inherited) >from the chromosomes of the person who donated the testicle because that testicle will produce the sperms that will produce the children. Therefore, these children will inherit the characteristics of the person who donated the testicle, and they will not inherit from the person who received the testicle any of the characteristics. Thus, the person who donated the testicle is considered the father from a biological point of view. Therefore, it is not allowed to donate one testicle, and it is not allowed to donate two testicles. The donation of one testicle leads to impotence of the donor, and the donation of one testicle or two testicles leads to the mix of affinity; it will be lost. Islam has prohibited this, and it commands that kinship needs to be preserved. It also makes it Haram for a person to relate to someone other than his father. Ibn Majah narrated from Ibn Abbas that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘Who ever claims relationship by birth to other than his father or gives partnership to other than his patrons, then the curse of Allah, the angles, and all the people be upon him.’‘ Ibn Majah also narrated from Abi Othman Annahri that he heard Saad and Aba Bakrah each of them saying that I have heard and understood >from Mohammad peace be upon him saying: ‘‘Anyone who makes a claim for somebody other than his father and he knows that he is not his father, then Paradise is forbidden for him.’‘ Islam also made it forbidden for any woman to introduce to some people an offspring that does not belong to them, or for a man to deny his own son. Al-Darimi narrated from Abu Hurayra that he heard the Prophet of Allah saying (when the verse of cursing was revealed): ‘‘Any woman who introduced to some people an offspring that does not belong to them, then she has nothing to do with Allah and she will not enter Paradise; and any man who denies his son while looking at him, he will not see Allah and Allah will disgrace him in front of the first and last generations.’‘
B. Donating organs after death: The rule concerning the donation of organs from a person after his death to another person differ from the rule of donating the organ during the life of the donor.
In order to reach the ruling about donating organs just after life ends, first we need to know the rule of who owns the dead body, the rule on the sanctity of the dead person, and the rule of necessity.
As for the rule concerning the ownership of the body after its death, we say that the body of the person after his death is not owned by anybody. So when the person dies, everything that he used to own or have any authority over is now out of his authority or domain, such as the person's wealth, body, and spouse. Therefore, the dead person has no control over his body. So he cannot donate any of his organs, and he cannot put it in his will. Therefore, it is not allowed to donate the organ or to put it as part of the will. As for the rule that allows the person to donate part of his money in his will, despite the fact that the money is taken after his death, the legislator has allowed a person to giveaway up to the third of his wealth without the permission of the people who will inherit him. Also, he can giveaway more than the third with their permission. This sharii rule concerns only the wealth and can't be extended to his body. Therefore, it is not allowed for a person to donate an organ after his death.
As for the people who will inherit him, Allah has given them his wealth and did not give them his body. Thus, they cannot donate one of his organs because they do not own his body and they have no authority to act on it. A condition of allowing the organ donation is that the donor and the acting body own what is being donated and have the legal right to act on it. If the people who inherit the dead person don't have the authority to deal with his body (in terms of donating organs), then others do not have such a right, by default, regardless of their position. Therefore, neither the doctor nor the ruler can decide on what to do with one or more organs, from a person who died, to transfer it to another person who needs it.
As for the sacredness of the dead body and harming it, Allah has made the sacredness of the dead equal to the one for the living. He made it forbidden to harm the dead body as is the case when he is alive. Aisha, the mother of the believers, may Allah bless her, narrated that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said : ‘‘Breaking the bone of a dead person is just like breaking it when he is alive.’‘ (Narrated by Imam Ahmad, Abu Daoud, and Ibn Habban). Imam Ahmad narrated that Amir Ibn Hazm Alansari said : the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him saw me leaning on a grave and said : ‘‘Do not harm the owner of this grave’‘. Imam Muslim and Ahmad narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayra that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘For somebody to sit on a piece of burning charcoal and burns him is better for him than to sit on a grave.’‘
These ahadith show clearly that the dead has a sanctity just like the living body. It also shows that violating the dead body and hurting it is like violating the living body and hurting it. So, as it is not allowed for one to hurt the living by cutting his tummy, cutting his neck, taking out his eye, or breaking his bone; similarly, it is not allowed for the dead. As it is not allowed to hurt the living by cursing, beating, or injuring, it is not allowed to do this for the dead. The exception is that hurting the dead body by breaking, cutting or injuring does not require compensation as is the case with the living. This is the case since the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him did not hold the person, who broke the bone of a dead body while digging the grave, financially liable. He only commanded him to bury the bone. He told him that to break the bone of the dead is similar to breaking it alive in terms of it being a sin.
To remove the eye of the dead person, or to cut him open to remove his heart, kidney, liver, or lungs, to transfer it to another person who needs it, is to mutilate the dead body. Bukhari narrated that Abdullah Ibn Zaid Alansari said: ‘‘The Prophet of Allah peace be upon him prohibited looting and disfiguring’‘. Imam Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Nasaii narrated that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him sent us on an expedition and said: ‘‘Go in the name of Allah, and for the sake of Allah. Fight those who disbelief in Allah. Do not mutilate, betray, or kill children’‘.
By explaining the ruling of violating the sacredness of the dead and hurting him, it becomes clear that it is forbidden to cut open the dead person, and to take an organ from the dead to give it to somebody else; this is considered a violation on the dead person's sacredness. This is hurting and disfiguring it. Violating the dead body and mutilating it is certainly forbidden by the Shariah.
Case of Necessity:
The case of necessity is the case where Allah allowed the person who is in dire need because he has no food, and his life is threatened by death, to eat of whatever he finds of food, which is otherwise forbidden, such as the dead meat, blood, flesh of swine, and others. So, will it be allowed in this case to transfer an organ from a dead person to a living person to save his life where his life depends on the transfer of such an organ to him? To answer this question, we need to know what is the rule concerning necessity so that we can know the rule of transferring organs from a person who is dead to one who needs it.
As for the rule of necessity, Allah almighty has allowed the person who is in dire need and has no food, and his life is threatened, to eat from what he finds of the food that Allah has otherwise prohibited, so that he can save his life. He is allowed to eat the dead meat, blood, swine and other things prohibited by Allah. Allah said: ‘‘He has forbidden you Al-Maytah (meat of a dead animal), blood, flesh of swine, and any animal which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for other than Allah. But if one is forced by necessity without willful disobedience and not transgressing, then there is no sin on him.’’
So, the person who is in dire need can eat of what he finds from these prohibited food which is enough to keep him alive. If he did not eat from what is prohibited and died, he is sinful, and he has killed himself. Allah almighty said: ‘‘And do not kill yourselves.’‘ Based on what was mentioned of the rule of necessity, can the same rule be applied to transferring organs >from a person who is dead to another person who is in need of it to save his life by the rule of analogy? The answer for this requires deep consideration. The condition to apply the rule of analogy in this matter requires that the ‘‘illa’‘ (legal reason) in the thing being analogized (Maqis), which is transferring the organs in this case, be common with the ‘‘illa’‘ of the thing which analogy is being applied to (Maqis Alaih), which is the case of necessity for the one who does not have food. This has to be either in the essence (Ayn) or in the type (Jinns). This is so, because analogy is to extend the ruling of the original case to that of the desired case, using the ‘‘illa’‘ of the original. If there is no common ‘‘illa’‘ either in generality or specialty, then we cannot extend the ruling of the original case to the desired one.
For the case of organ transfer, these organs are either essential ones, by which the life can be saved by the best of thinking, such as the heart, liver, kidneys, or lungs, or non-essential organs. These include the eyes, the second kidney for the person who has a working kidney, the hand, the leg, and the like.
The non-essential organs, which life does not depend on, the ‘‘illa’‘ of the original case, which is saving the life, is not present here. Hence, the ruling of necessity does not apply. So, it is not allowed to transfer the eye, second kidney, for that who has a working one, hand, or leg from a dead person to a living one in need of it.
For the case of essential organs, by which life can be saved by the best of thinking, there are two objections:
First, the ‘’illa’‘, which is saving the life, is not certainly existent, like the case of eating the forbidden for necessity. Eating from what is prohibited of food will certainly save the life. On the other hand, transferring the heart, liver, lungs, or kidneys does not certainly lead to saving the life of the person to whom they were transferred. Saving the life may occur and it may not occur. The numerous incidents which happened with those whom these organs were transferred to certify this. So, ‘‘illa’‘ is not complete here.
The second objection relates to another condition for ‘‘qiyas’‘ (analogy). The desired (Farii) case has to be void of any outbalancing objection that indicates the opposite of ‘‘illa’‘ of the analogy. In this case, which is transferring organs, a clear outbalancing objection is present which indicates the opposite of the result of ‘‘qiyas’‘. This objection is the forbidding of violating the sanctity of the dead body, hurting, or mutilating it. This outbalancing text indicates the opposite of the ‘‘illa’‘ of permitting transferring organs.
Based on these two objections, it is not allowed to transfer essential organs, by which life can be saved, such as the heart, liver, kidneys, or lungs from a dead person who has a protected blood, whether he is a Muslim, "Thimmi" (from the people of the book who are citizens of the Islamic State), "Mu'ahid" (from people who have a treaty with the Islamic State) or "Musta'min" (asylee) to another person whose life depends on transferring these organs.
Based on what have been said regarding the Islamic perspective on dead bodies,it is haraam to perform post-mortem. Period.
Conditions for donating organs during the person's lifetime:
It is a requirement for somebody who is donating an organ during his life that the organ should not be vital for his own life. His life should not depend on it, such as his heart, liver or lungs. This is so, because donating such an organ will cause death to that person, and he will be killing himself. It is not allowed for a person to kill himself, or to allow somebody else to kill him with his consent. Allah Says: ‘‘Do not kill yourselves.’‘ He also said: ‘‘And do not kill the soul that Allah has prohibited except by truth.’‘ This includes killing others and also killing oneself. Imam Muslim narrates that Thabit Ibn Addahak said that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘... and whoever kills himself with a tool, then Allah will punish him with that tool in hell fire.’‘ Imams Bukhari and Muslim narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayra that he said that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘Any one who throws himself from a mountain to kill himself, then he is in hill fire.’‘
It is not allowed for a person to donate his testicles, even if donating them does not lead to his death. This is so, because the Prophet peace be upon him disallowed castration which makes a person impotent. Imam Bukhari narrates that Abdullah Ibn Masood said: ‘‘We used to go with the Prophet peace be upon him on expeditions and we did not have our women; so we asked him: Can we castrate ourselves? He did not allow us to do it.’‘ This same ruling applies to donating one testicle, even if it does not make the person impotent. This is because the sexual cells are the cells of the reproductive organs which are the testicle for the male and the ovary for the female, which produce children. The offspring of the person comes from the sexual cells. In the testicle, there exist the cells that make the sperms; it is the factory that makes the sperms. The testicle is the storage place and the factory that produces the sperms from its cells. This is regardless if it is still with the original owner or with the person that it was transferred to. As a result, the children produced by the person who received the testicle, will have the chromosomes (which carry the characteristics to be inherited) >from the chromosomes of the person who donated the testicle because that testicle will produce the sperms that will produce the children. Therefore, these children will inherit the characteristics of the person who donated the testicle, and they will not inherit from the person who received the testicle any of the characteristics. Thus, the person who donated the testicle is considered the father from a biological point of view. Therefore, it is not allowed to donate one testicle, and it is not allowed to donate two testicles. The donation of one testicle leads to impotence of the donor, and the donation of one testicle or two testicles leads to the mix of affinity; it will be lost. Islam has prohibited this, and it commands that kinship needs to be preserved. It also makes it Haram for a person to relate to someone other than his father. Ibn Majah narrated from Ibn Abbas that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘Who ever claims relationship by birth to other than his father or gives partnership to other than his patrons, then the curse of Allah, the angles, and all the people be upon him.’‘ Ibn Majah also narrated from Abi Othman Annahri that he heard Saad and Aba Bakrah each of them saying that I have heard and understood >from Mohammad peace be upon him saying: ‘‘Anyone who makes a claim for somebody other than his father and he knows that he is not his father, then Paradise is forbidden for him.’‘ Islam also made it forbidden for any woman to introduce to some people an offspring that does not belong to them, or for a man to deny his own son. Al-Darimi narrated from Abu Hurayra that he heard the Prophet of Allah saying (when the verse of cursing was revealed): ‘‘Any woman who introduced to some people an offspring that does not belong to them, then she has nothing to do with Allah and she will not enter Paradise; and any man who denies his son while looking at him, he will not see Allah and Allah will disgrace him in front of the first and last generations.’‘
B. Donating organs after death: The rule concerning the donation of organs from a person after his death to another person differ from the rule of donating the organ during the life of the donor.
In order to reach the ruling about donating organs just after life ends, first we need to know the rule of who owns the dead body, the rule on the sanctity of the dead person, and the rule of necessity.
As for the rule concerning the ownership of the body after its death, we say that the body of the person after his death is not owned by anybody. So when the person dies, everything that he used to own or have any authority over is now out of his authority or domain, such as the person's wealth, body, and spouse. Therefore, the dead person has no control over his body. So he cannot donate any of his organs, and he cannot put it in his will. Therefore, it is not allowed to donate the organ or to put it as part of the will. As for the rule that allows the person to donate part of his money in his will, despite the fact that the money is taken after his death, the legislator has allowed a person to giveaway up to the third of his wealth without the permission of the people who will inherit him. Also, he can giveaway more than the third with their permission. This sharii rule concerns only the wealth and can't be extended to his body. Therefore, it is not allowed for a person to donate an organ after his death.
As for the people who will inherit him, Allah has given them his wealth and did not give them his body. Thus, they cannot donate one of his organs because they do not own his body and they have no authority to act on it. A condition of allowing the organ donation is that the donor and the acting body own what is being donated and have the legal right to act on it. If the people who inherit the dead person don't have the authority to deal with his body (in terms of donating organs), then others do not have such a right, by default, regardless of their position. Therefore, neither the doctor nor the ruler can decide on what to do with one or more organs, from a person who died, to transfer it to another person who needs it.
As for the sacredness of the dead body and harming it, Allah has made the sacredness of the dead equal to the one for the living. He made it forbidden to harm the dead body as is the case when he is alive. Aisha, the mother of the believers, may Allah bless her, narrated that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said : ‘‘Breaking the bone of a dead person is just like breaking it when he is alive.’‘ (Narrated by Imam Ahmad, Abu Daoud, and Ibn Habban). Imam Ahmad narrated that Amir Ibn Hazm Alansari said : the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him saw me leaning on a grave and said : ‘‘Do not harm the owner of this grave’‘. Imam Muslim and Ahmad narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayra that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him said: ‘‘For somebody to sit on a piece of burning charcoal and burns him is better for him than to sit on a grave.’‘
These ahadith show clearly that the dead has a sanctity just like the living body. It also shows that violating the dead body and hurting it is like violating the living body and hurting it. So, as it is not allowed for one to hurt the living by cutting his tummy, cutting his neck, taking out his eye, or breaking his bone; similarly, it is not allowed for the dead. As it is not allowed to hurt the living by cursing, beating, or injuring, it is not allowed to do this for the dead. The exception is that hurting the dead body by breaking, cutting or injuring does not require compensation as is the case with the living. This is the case since the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him did not hold the person, who broke the bone of a dead body while digging the grave, financially liable. He only commanded him to bury the bone. He told him that to break the bone of the dead is similar to breaking it alive in terms of it being a sin.
To remove the eye of the dead person, or to cut him open to remove his heart, kidney, liver, or lungs, to transfer it to another person who needs it, is to mutilate the dead body. Bukhari narrated that Abdullah Ibn Zaid Alansari said: ‘‘The Prophet of Allah peace be upon him prohibited looting and disfiguring’‘. Imam Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Nasaii narrated that the Prophet of Allah peace be upon him sent us on an expedition and said: ‘‘Go in the name of Allah, and for the sake of Allah. Fight those who disbelief in Allah. Do not mutilate, betray, or kill children’‘.
By explaining the ruling of violating the sacredness of the dead and hurting him, it becomes clear that it is forbidden to cut open the dead person, and to take an organ from the dead to give it to somebody else; this is considered a violation on the dead person's sacredness. This is hurting and disfiguring it. Violating the dead body and mutilating it is certainly forbidden by the Shariah.
Case of Necessity:
The case of necessity is the case where Allah allowed the person who is in dire need because he has no food, and his life is threatened by death, to eat of whatever he finds of food, which is otherwise forbidden, such as the dead meat, blood, flesh of swine, and others. So, will it be allowed in this case to transfer an organ from a dead person to a living person to save his life where his life depends on the transfer of such an organ to him? To answer this question, we need to know what is the rule concerning necessity so that we can know the rule of transferring organs from a person who is dead to one who needs it.
As for the rule of necessity, Allah almighty has allowed the person who is in dire need and has no food, and his life is threatened, to eat from what he finds of the food that Allah has otherwise prohibited, so that he can save his life. He is allowed to eat the dead meat, blood, swine and other things prohibited by Allah. Allah said: ‘‘He has forbidden you Al-Maytah (meat of a dead animal), blood, flesh of swine, and any animal which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for other than Allah. But if one is forced by necessity without willful disobedience and not transgressing, then there is no sin on him.’’
So, the person who is in dire need can eat of what he finds from these prohibited food which is enough to keep him alive. If he did not eat from what is prohibited and died, he is sinful, and he has killed himself. Allah almighty said: ‘‘And do not kill yourselves.’‘ Based on what was mentioned of the rule of necessity, can the same rule be applied to transferring organs >from a person who is dead to another person who is in need of it to save his life by the rule of analogy? The answer for this requires deep consideration. The condition to apply the rule of analogy in this matter requires that the ‘‘illa’‘ (legal reason) in the thing being analogized (Maqis), which is transferring the organs in this case, be common with the ‘‘illa’‘ of the thing which analogy is being applied to (Maqis Alaih), which is the case of necessity for the one who does not have food. This has to be either in the essence (Ayn) or in the type (Jinns). This is so, because analogy is to extend the ruling of the original case to that of the desired case, using the ‘‘illa’‘ of the original. If there is no common ‘‘illa’‘ either in generality or specialty, then we cannot extend the ruling of the original case to the desired one.
For the case of organ transfer, these organs are either essential ones, by which the life can be saved by the best of thinking, such as the heart, liver, kidneys, or lungs, or non-essential organs. These include the eyes, the second kidney for the person who has a working kidney, the hand, the leg, and the like.
The non-essential organs, which life does not depend on, the ‘‘illa’‘ of the original case, which is saving the life, is not present here. Hence, the ruling of necessity does not apply. So, it is not allowed to transfer the eye, second kidney, for that who has a working one, hand, or leg from a dead person to a living one in need of it.
For the case of essential organs, by which life can be saved by the best of thinking, there are two objections:
First, the ‘’illa’‘, which is saving the life, is not certainly existent, like the case of eating the forbidden for necessity. Eating from what is prohibited of food will certainly save the life. On the other hand, transferring the heart, liver, lungs, or kidneys does not certainly lead to saving the life of the person to whom they were transferred. Saving the life may occur and it may not occur. The numerous incidents which happened with those whom these organs were transferred to certify this. So, ‘‘illa’‘ is not complete here.
The second objection relates to another condition for ‘‘qiyas’‘ (analogy). The desired (Farii) case has to be void of any outbalancing objection that indicates the opposite of ‘‘illa’‘ of the analogy. In this case, which is transferring organs, a clear outbalancing objection is present which indicates the opposite of the result of ‘‘qiyas’‘. This objection is the forbidding of violating the sanctity of the dead body, hurting, or mutilating it. This outbalancing text indicates the opposite of the ‘‘illa’‘ of permitting transferring organs.
Based on these two objections, it is not allowed to transfer essential organs, by which life can be saved, such as the heart, liver, kidneys, or lungs from a dead person who has a protected blood, whether he is a Muslim, "Thimmi" (from the people of the book who are citizens of the Islamic State), "Mu'ahid" (from people who have a treaty with the Islamic State) or "Musta'min" (asylee) to another person whose life depends on transferring these organs.
Based on what have been said regarding the Islamic perspective on dead bodies,it is haraam to perform post-mortem. Period.
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