What is the ruling on a person donating his body organs, whether after death or during his lifetime?

The questioner : We ask the Shaykh about this question: what is the ruling?

Another questioner : With the person's consent or without it.

The questioner : Regarding the donation of body organs with the person's consent, whether after his death or during his lifetime.

The Shaykh : We have been asked this question repeatedly, and we answered that if it is by his bequest, it is an unjust bequest and is invalid. This is because it is not permissible for a Muslim to dispose of his body by an unjust bequest after his death, just as it is not permissible for him to dispose of his body during his lifetime in a way that harms himself. The strange thing is that this revolution that has appeared in the modern era, in terms of permitting the donation of the cornea, is based on one of those excuses you mentioned earlier, namely "public benefit." What public benefit? This is a private benefit for one individual at the expense of another. My point is that some people may donate a part of their body while alive, and the most common donation in this time is the kidney.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Ah, so I said, I wonder why they do not say it is permissible to donate a hand, or an arm, or a hand in its entirety? Here they would retract their claimed call, because here there is apparent disfigurement. This is inconsistent with modern civilization; they do not permit a man to be maimed here. But internally, as long as the matter is hidden, there is no problem, so let him donate, even if he is exposed to death. I had a discussion with one of the doctors, naturally one of the Muslim doctors who were deceived by such fatwas that permit the donation of a kidney. I asked, can any skilled doctor predict the future of one of the kidneys? They naturally examined the kidneys thoroughly and scientifically, and they found no weakness in either. Therefore, they encourage this person with two healthy kidneys to donate one of them. We asked this doctor, do you guarantee that this donor will not be afflicted in the other kidney, in the near or distant future? They said, "What do we care about the future?" So, you are as if you are opposing the creation of Allah, the variation you see in the creation of Allah. Yes.
The student : In the creation of the Most Merciful.

The Shaykh: Our Lord, when He created the human being with two kidneys, just as He created for him two eyes, two ears, two hands, and two feet, and so on, did so for a profound wisdom. As long as you permit a person to donate a kidney, you have exposed this donor to danger, since you cannot guarantee that the other kidney will remain sound until the last breath of his life. So, first, this contradicts the creation of Allah. Second, you have exposed this created being to a calamity that may befall his kidney; the kidney you permitted him to give away would have been a reserve for him, a backup he kept for a last resort. So I say that this action regarding a human being while he is alive contradicts the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His creation. Likewise, his bequest after his death of some of his organs, especially the cornea, is an unjust bequest, because it grants permission to dispose of his body. The authentic hadith, which I think you mentioned earlier, says: Then the Messenger (peace be upon him), as we all know, forbade mutilation, even of a disbeliever. The Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade the Muslims, when they fought the disbelievers and killed them, from mutilating them. So what is the matter with these scholars who issue rulings permitting a deceased person to bequeath that he be mutilated after his death? There is no doubt that this is an unjust bequest; therefore, if such a bequest is found, it is not permissible to carry it out.