You mentioned, Your Eminence, that it is not permissible to donate organs, even with the donor's consent; so what if there is a dire necessity?

The questioner : Regarding the use of the organs of a deceased person who consented to save the life of another: You mentioned the prohibition of mutilation. How severe is this prohibition when compared to dire necessities that permit what is otherwise prohibited?

The Shaykh : Dire necessity pertains to the person of legal capacity, not to others. A person does not have the right to prefer the life of another over his own life. A person does not have the right to prefer the life of another over his own life.

Another questioner : His life is ending.

The Shaykh : No, he is not judged as having an ending life. This concludes the answer regarding that.

Another questioner : No, the example they mentioned and the details they gave do not apply in all cases. A person may be dead while his heart is still alive, and he may have consented to his heart being given.

The Shaykh : The one who has died is finished.

Another questioner : Yes, of course. So he consented to his heart being given to another who would die if he were not given a heart. So the question is the comparison now between the prohibition of mutilation and the possibility of this person who is approaching death... his heart, while another person donated his heart and has become dead, and his heart can be given to the other.

Another questioner : But, my dear sir, a correction...

The Shaykh : A correction regarding this question?

Another questioner: Question.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

Another questioner : My dear sir, the heart does not stop and then get transferred. It does not. The heart is not transferred unless it is beating.

Another questioner : ... My brother, but it is possible for a person to be dead while the heart is still beating.

Another questioner: It does not happen.

Another questioner : No, no, it does not happen.

Another questioner : His brain dies and life ends, but the heart is still beating.

The questioner : If the brain dies, or there are no waves on the machines, is he called dead while the heart is beating?

The Shaykh : I do not know...
Abu Malik: ... they judge the person, and of course, there was a conference here in Amman, and it was an international conference attended by a large group of specialized doctors, and the doctors actually concluded that if the brain dies, they call it brain death. Brain death is its final cessation from performing its functions. So, of course, in this case, the person's heart continues to beat as long as there are machines applied to this heart to help it beat and pump blood to the body's arteries or other muscles, but the brain does not work in its function which usually works. Therefore, he is actually judged dead when it is said that his brain is dead; such that if the machines were removed from the heart, the heart would stop moving and rest and end, and his death would be finalized. So life is linked to this organ; if the organ is removed, his heart stops pumping completely. This is what is called brain death in the request or in medical science. This is what I want to say.

The Shaykh : ... There is a difference between your words and the professor's words. What do you mean?

Another questioner : What I mean is that the heart can continue after the death of the brain.

The Shaykh : Without machines.

The questioner : No, with machines, and for a very short time.

Another questioner : It can continue for three or four hours.
Abu Malik: No, three hours. Its continuation is three to five hours with the machine, with the machines.

The Shaykh : I am the one who wants to draw attention.
Abu Malik: Excuse me, this actually became a dialogue with Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi, who is with us on the Ifta Committee, and he spoke on this topic... at length. And Dr. Ashraf adopts this theory very strongly, whereas, until now, this theory is still under debate even in Europe at the medical academy. But certainly, the group here, of course, I did not agree to take their opinion completely until they bring a group of specialists—also—like Dr. Ishaq Marqa, and the group who have... and who also have the fear of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So, in truth, the group is unanimous on what Dr. Ashraf says.

Another questioner : I do not understand the point at all; because even this person who dies finally and his heart is taken from him may sometimes need three hours to transfer the heart from one country to another, so the heart continues alive as tissue and as an organ, or it becomes something transferable despite being removed from the body.
Abu Malik: The heart must be transferred in a short period of time.

Another questioner : It may... take three hours. I am telling you, I see examples of planes transferring hearts from one country to another to perform the operation. So we are talking about the life of the heart as tissue, not the life of the deceased person. The person may pass away... he can, and his heart is taken from him at the last moment and transferred from one place to another to perform the operation... as an organ, and he consented.

The Shaykh : The thing I want to understand is when the doctors judge...