What is done with human limbs that are removed from a person during surgery
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Praise be to Allah alone, and may prayers and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf: Abd al-Rahman ibn Hamd al-Attiyah , reference number (49434/8/4582), dated 5/4/1423 AH, which was referred to His Eminence the Grand Mufti by His Royal Highness Prince Abd al-Aziz ibn Fahd ibn Abd al-Aziz , Head of the Royal Court of the Prime Minister, along with his letter number (S 2082 3), dated 4/6/1423 AH. The question is: We wish to inform Your Eminity that the relevant department in the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council is working to unify the standards for managing healthcare waste in the Council’s member states and to establish the operational guidelines for it, in order to avert its risks to human health and the environment. A query has arisen for that department regarding the Islamic ruling on the permissibility of burning human organs such as the liver, kidney, and placenta and the like in incinerators dedicated to healthcare waste. We hope Your Eminity will provide the Islamic ruling on this matter.
After the Committee studied the question under my chairmanship and with my participation, it answered as follows:
1- It is not permissible to burn the parts mentioned. Rather, it is obligatory to bury these parts and other human limbs of Muslims in a pit in the general Muslim cemetery, and to level the surface like other graves so that they are not dug up. If among them is a fetus in which the soul has been breathed, which is one that has passed four months, it is to be washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried in a separate grave in the Muslim cemeteries if it was born of two Muslim parents or of parents one of whom is Muslim. If a fetus in which the soul has been breathed is found from two disbelieving parents, it is not to be washed, shrouded, or prayed over, but is to be buried in a wrapping in a place other than the Muslim cemeteries. Likewise, all other parts taken from a disbeliever. 2- The burial of the parts mentioned is to be done whenever a quantity of them has accumulated, whether in one day or several days, because this is more convenient for those who perform the burial. 3- The human parts that must be buried do not include extracted wisdom teeth and teeth; because they are in the category of detached parts, and because no harm results from not burying them.
After the Committee studied the question under my chairmanship and with my participation, it answered as follows:
1- It is not permissible to burn the parts mentioned. Rather, it is obligatory to bury these parts and other human limbs of Muslims in a pit in the general Muslim cemetery, and to level the surface like other graves so that they are not dug up. If among them is a fetus in which the soul has been breathed, which is one that has passed four months, it is to be washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried in a separate grave in the Muslim cemeteries if it was born of two Muslim parents or of parents one of whom is Muslim. If a fetus in which the soul has been breathed is found from two disbelieving parents, it is not to be washed, shrouded, or prayed over, but is to be buried in a wrapping in a place other than the Muslim cemeteries. Likewise, all other parts taken from a disbeliever. 2- The burial of the parts mentioned is to be done whenever a quantity of them has accumulated, whether in one day or several days, because this is more convenient for those who perform the burial. 3- The human parts that must be buried do not include extracted wisdom teeth and teeth; because they are in the category of detached parts, and because no harm results from not burying them.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.