What is the ruling on donating a "kidney"?

The questioner : O Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Please proceed.

The questioner : What is the ruling on donating a kidney?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Donating a kidney?

The Shaykh : I disagree with the majority of those who issue rulings permitting it, and I hold that it is not permissible. The reason for this, in my view, comes down to two matters:
The first matter is that I look at His saying, the Exalted: . When He created man, perfected his form, and preferred him over many of those He created, and made his creation excellent, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—as you know—would include in his supplication the words: . This perfection of the human creation by Allah is not to be tampered with under the pretext of doing good. Because in your question, which is limited to donating a kidney, I say: this donation of a kidney involves:
First: what can be included in the general prohibition of the Messenger (peace be upon him) regarding mutilation. He (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited mutilation, which is disfiguring the creation of the Most Merciful (Blessed and Exalted is He).
The second thing is that removing this kidney from the human body may expose this person to illness, or perhaps even to death.
I discussed this with some doctors who adopted those views that permit donation, and even permit selling a kidney for a price or money. I discussed it with some doctors as follows. I said: As a Muslim—and on this occasion, I do not say "as a Muslim," rather we should avoid this expression because it is a translation of a foreign expression; instead of saying "as a Muslim," we say "in your capacity as a Muslim"—in your capacity as a Muslim, you undoubtedly share with us the belief that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) did not create two kidneys in the human being in vain, but for a profound wisdom. He will naturally say: Yes, that is so. We say: What is the wisdom? What we know, and you know better than we do, is that a person may sometimes suffer from the failure of one kidney, and the other performs its function, and the life of this person whose first kidney failed continues. He says: Yes. So I built on this the following. I said: If you decide, with the consent of the donor or the seller of one of his kidneys, to remove it and transplant it into another body, are you able to guarantee that the other kidney that will remain in the body of this donor or this seller will not fail? He said: That is not possible. I said: Then here the divine wisdom appears: that He created two kidneys so that if one fails, the other performs its duty. If you remove one, you have nullified Allah's wisdom in creating two kidneys, not just one. And I said to him: The example is before you. I personally was told—Allah knows best, we do not know—after they removed a stone from me through a simple surgical operation, after several months I complained of some discomfort, so I was scanned, and they said: This right kidney is inactive. If I had been one of those who see—may Allah forbid it—donation, let alone selling one of the kidneys, and I had donated the left kidney, and then shortly after the first one failed, I would have exposed myself to destruction. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) says: . They say in our region in the language of the common people: "Benefit your companion with something that does not harm you." This is obligatory. "Benefit your companion with something that does not harm you." For example, if you have two loaves and you need one, you give the other to the one who needs it. But if you have two hands, do you cut off one and give it in charity to the one whose hand was cut off? No. The Messenger (peace be upon him) says: . So it is not permissible to donate any of the organs for the reasons we mentioned, which are:
First: it is mutilation, and the Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited mutilation.
And secondly: because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) did not create that in vain. So we leave Allah's creation as Allah created it, and we do not apply the logic of the disbelievers and seek nearness to Allah through it. This is the very essence of misguidance. This is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.