Dubai: Organ donation for transplantation, under certain circumstances, is allowed in Islam but scholars differed on what these circumstances are.
Differences include whether organs can be harvested from only living donors in cases of kidney and liver transplants, or whether this applies to brain-dead and cadaver donors as well.
Dr Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Haddad, the grand mufti of the Dubai Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Works, told Gulf News that Islam permitted Muslims to donate their organs to patients "who are in grave need of organs which function properly". "Donating organs in Islam is permitted but it should be for no returns or for seeking no gain," he said.
He added that organs from living donors, such as kidney and liver transplants, and from brain-dead or cadaver donors, for all organ transplants, were allowed under Islam as long as consent was given by the donor or guardian.
Shaikh Mohammad Suleiman Faraj from General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Awqaf disagreed, saying that Islam only allowed organ transplants from living donors with their consent.
"The heart has to be functioning," he said.
In terms of brain-dead or cadaver donors, he added that Islam prohibited organ donation from these sources.
