You mentioned, Your Eminence, that it is not permissible to donate organs, even if the donor consents. What if there is a dire necessity?
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The questioner : Regarding the use of the organs of the deceased... 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 forbidden?
The Shaykh : Dire necessity pertains to the person who is accountable, not to others. Therefore, a person may not prioritize the life of another over his own life.
Another questioner: His life is ending.
The Shaykh : No, he is judged as having an ending life. The answer regarding him is concluded.
Another questioner: The example they cited and the detail they gave do not apply in all cases. It is possible for a person to be dead while his heart is still alive, and for him to have consented to donate his heart.
The Shaykh : The one who has died is finished.
Another questioner: Well, of course, he has consented to donate his heart to another who will die if he is not given a heart. The question is the comparison between the prohibition of... and how this person who is nearing death... his heart, while there is another person who donated his heart and has become dead, and his heart can be given to the other.
Another questioner: If you please, Shaykh, a correction.
The Shaykh : A correction regarding this question. Please go ahead.
Another questioner: My lord, the heart does not stop and then transfer. The heart does not transfer unless it is beating.
Another questioner: ... But it is possible for the person to be dead while the heart is still beating.
Another questioner: It does not happen.
Another questioner: His brain dies and life ends, but the heart is still beating.
The questioner : Death: If the brain dies, or if there are no waves on the machines, is he called dead while his heart is beating?
The Shaykh : I do not know...
Abu Malik: Of course, a conference was held in Amman on this matter. It was an international conference attended by a large group of specialized doctors, and they concluded... If the brain dies, it is called brain death, which is its complete cessation from performing its functions, such that... In this case, his heart beats as long as there are machines applied to the heart to assist it in beating and pumping blood to the body's arteries or muscles, but the brain is not functioning in its usual role. Therefore, he is judged to be truly dead when it is said his brain is destroyed, such that if the machines were removed from the heart, the heart would stop moving and cease, and his death would be fully realized. Thus, life is linked to this organ. If the machine is removed, his heart stops beating completely. This is what is called brain death in medical science...
The Shaykh : I think there is a difference between your statement and the professor's. 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.
Abu Malik: It can continue for three to five hours with the machines.
The Shaykh : I am drawing attention to...
Abu Malik: This actually became a dialogue with Ashraf al-Kurdi... He spoke at length on this topic, and Dr. Ashraf adopts this theory very strongly. However, until now, this theory is still subject to debate, even in Europe in medical academies. But certainly, the group here... Of course, I did not agree to take their opinion entirely until a group of specialists... The group who have mindfulness of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, are actually in agreement with what Dr. Ashraf says.
Another questioner: I do not understand the point. Even a person who dies completely and whose heart is taken may sometimes need three hours to transport the heart from one country to another. The heart remains alive as tissue and as an organ, or remains something capable of transport, despite being removed from the body.
Abu Malik: The heart must be transported in a short period of time.
Another questioner: ... I see examples of planes transporting hearts from one country to another for the operation. We are talking about the life of the heart as tissue, not the life of the deceased person. The person may die... and his heart is taken at the last moment and transported from one place to another for the operation, as an organ, and he has consented.
The Shaykh : The thing I want to understand is...
The Shaykh : Dire necessity pertains to the person who is accountable, not to others. Therefore, a person may not prioritize the life of another over his own life.
Another questioner: His life is ending.
The Shaykh : No, he is judged as having an ending life. The answer regarding him is concluded.
Another questioner: The example they cited and the detail they gave do not apply in all cases. It is possible for a person to be dead while his heart is still alive, and for him to have consented to donate his heart.
The Shaykh : The one who has died is finished.
Another questioner: Well, of course, he has consented to donate his heart to another who will die if he is not given a heart. The question is the comparison between the prohibition of... and how this person who is nearing death... his heart, while there is another person who donated his heart and has become dead, and his heart can be given to the other.
Another questioner: If you please, Shaykh, a correction.
The Shaykh : A correction regarding this question. Please go ahead.
Another questioner: My lord, the heart does not stop and then transfer. The heart does not transfer unless it is beating.
Another questioner: ... But it is possible for the person to be dead while the heart is still beating.
Another questioner: It does not happen.
Another questioner: His brain dies and life ends, but the heart is still beating.
The questioner : Death: If the brain dies, or if there are no waves on the machines, is he called dead while his heart is beating?
The Shaykh : I do not know...
Abu Malik: Of course, a conference was held in Amman on this matter. It was an international conference attended by a large group of specialized doctors, and they concluded... If the brain dies, it is called brain death, which is its complete cessation from performing its functions, such that... In this case, his heart beats as long as there are machines applied to the heart to assist it in beating and pumping blood to the body's arteries or muscles, but the brain is not functioning in its usual role. Therefore, he is judged to be truly dead when it is said his brain is destroyed, such that if the machines were removed from the heart, the heart would stop moving and cease, and his death would be fully realized. Thus, life is linked to this organ. If the machine is removed, his heart stops beating completely. This is what is called brain death in medical science...
The Shaykh : I think there is a difference between your statement and the professor's. 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.
Abu Malik: It can continue for three to five hours with the machines.
The Shaykh : I am drawing attention to...
Abu Malik: This actually became a dialogue with Ashraf al-Kurdi... He spoke at length on this topic, and Dr. Ashraf adopts this theory very strongly. However, until now, this theory is still subject to debate, even in Europe in medical academies. But certainly, the group here... Of course, I did not agree to take their opinion entirely until a group of specialists... The group who have mindfulness of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, are actually in agreement with what Dr. Ashraf says.
Another questioner: I do not understand the point. Even a person who dies completely and whose heart is taken may sometimes need three hours to transport the heart from one country to another. The heart remains alive as tissue and as an organ, or remains something capable of transport, despite being removed from the body.
Abu Malik: The heart must be transported in a short period of time.
Another questioner: ... I see examples of planes transporting hearts from one country to another for the operation. We are talking about the life of the heart as tissue, not the life of the deceased person. The person may die... and his heart is taken at the last moment and transported from one place to another for the operation, as an organ, and he has consented.
The Shaykh : The thing I want to understand is...