A critical approach to the current understanding of Islamic scholars on using cadaver organs without prior permission

Chronic organ diseases and the increasing demand for organ transplantation haze become an important health care problem within the last few decades. C ampaigns and regulations to encourage people to donate organs after their d eath have not met much success. This article discusses the subject from. an Islamic perspective. It begins with some basic information on how Muslims reach legal rulings on a particular issue, and goes on to debate contempora ry thinking among Islamic scholars on the ethical-legal issues of organ don ation and organ transplantation. It is shown that there are two groups of s cholars, one allowing organ donation and organ transplantation, the other r efusing it in any circumstances. Both groups agree that it is fundamentally wrong to harvest organs from. cadavers without the prior permission of the deceased or the relatives. This dogma is re-examined, and it is argued tha t, under the rule of necessity and the imperative to preserve life, there i s enough, moral and theological ground to allow the state to harvest organs from the deceased without prior permission.