I work as a doctor, and there is a problem facing doctors, which is that a patient may die and the cause of his illness is not known, or it may be known, but for scientific purposes and the development of treatment, it is necessary to take a sample from his body, and that is either by pricking him with a needle or performing a surgical operation to remove an organ for study, and then this part is buried in the cemetery. What is the ruling on this action? And if it is permissible, is it obligatory to seek the permission of the deceased's family before doing so, or not?

The questioner : I work as a doctor, and there is a problem that often faces doctors, which is that a patient may die and the cause of his illness is not known, or it may be known, but for scientific purposes and the development of treatment, it is necessary to take a sample from the body of the patient or the body of the deceased, and that is either by pricking him with a needle or performing a surgical operation to remove a piece or an organ for study, and then this part is buried in the cemetery. What is the ruling on this action? And if it is permissible, is it obligatory to seek the permission of the deceased's family before doing so, or not?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
If the matter is as he said,The questioner : and it is a needle prick or something similar to it that does not result in wounding the body or cutting anything from it, then this is permissible because of the benefit in it and the absence of harm to this deceased person. However, if the matter requires cutting something from the deceased, then that is not permissible, except for a benefit that relates to that deceased person himself, such as: the purpose being to find out the cause of his death: is it a natural death or due to something given to him or something similar to that? That is, in case of doubt about whether his death was due to natural causes or whether someone attacked him in a way that necessitated his death, then there is no harm in taking a part from the deceased on which a test is performed, and then it is returned to the same body of the deceased and buried with him. But if the purpose of that is a benefit external to the deceased and the deceased has no connection to it, then it is not permissible, because the deceased is respected, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and this is a benefit that does not relate to him personally, so it is not permissible for us to encroach upon him for the benefit of others.