What is the ruling on donating some organs from the living and the dead?

The questioner : The cornea that they take from the human body without mutilating the body, and they use it to restore sight to a blind person. The cornea is transparent and delicate; they remove it from the eye of the dead body and place it in the eye of a healthy living person...?

The Shaykh : The answer has already been given, and we said that whether it is from a dead person or a living person, it is not permissible; because in that, regarding the dead person, it is mutilation, and regarding the living person, it is harm; yes.

Another questioner : I said a little while ago, "I wish they had taken the hair from the cheek or between the eyebrows with a razor." Does that imply the permissibility of using the razor...?

The Shaykh : No, by Allah, that is not implied. But I intended by that to say, "Have mercy on yourselves; some evil is less than some."

The questioner : Because in fact, some of the shaykhs in the city of Zarqa issued a fatwa permitting the use of the razor for young men, so they started using the razor.

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah! All of that is changing the creation of Allah.

The questioner : I would like to clarify

The Shaykh : Well done. May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : Regarding organ transplantation, the kidneys: a person can live with one kidney, or with the two lungs. It has been established that a person can live with either one lung or one kidney. So, is it possible that this could be a benefit for another person who is about to die, and save his life?

The Shaykh : Yes, we have also spoken about this issue a lot, and our answer in brief is to refer to the previous verse: Our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, as we see in the human being, both outwardly and inwardly, has diversified his organs. Some organs are repeated and multiple, such as the hands, feet, and fingers, and the like, including the kidneys; but some are single and unique, such as the heart, for example. So when He created the man with a heart and two kidneys, He did not create that in vain; there must be a wisdom. And since the matter is so, and it is so in the hundred percent, it is not befitting for the Muslim to say, "I live with the other kidney, so let me donate one of them, or sell it and live off it, especially if I am poor." So we say, no. The reason for that, and this is a discussion that took place between me and some doctors: I used to say, based on this jurisprudence and understanding of the religion, starting from the previous verse and from our study of the structure of the human being with one heart and two kidneys, that Allah did not create that in vain. So I say to the doctors, and to others who were influenced by the doctors' words that a person can live with one kidney, and therefore it is permissible for this person to volunteer or to get rid of one kidney by any means, because he can live with the other. I say with them that he can live with the other, because this is established for many people. And for the sake of the lesson, I say that I am one of them. Look at this man who is speaking to you frankly and in a loud voice: this kidney of mine is idle and unemployed, and praise be to Allah. But I want to say something: this kidney of mine became inactive two or three years ago, and there are many like me. If I had adopted that opinion, meaning its permissibility, and a friend, a beloved, or someone else came and they said to me, "This man needs support, and the best one to support him is his relative, and you are he. What do you think about donating a kidney?" If I had adopted that opinion, meaning its permissibility, I would have donated, for example, the left kidney. What would I have done regarding the distant future? I would have exposed myself to destruction. And so I said to one of the doctors: "When you say that he can live with one kidney and donate the other, can you say in the future that it is impossible that the one with the single kidney will suffer from a disease in it, and that will be his destruction?" He said: "No, I cannot." So why are you opening the door to permit the donation of a kidney when Allah created it as two? If there is one kidney out of the two, at least, what do you say? You say "spare tire." We in Syria say "spare tire." What do you say? "Spare tire," meaning "reserve." So this is one of the benefits. A person in his car, if he wants to travel a short distance, much shorter than the long life, he needs a spare tire. Our Lord who created this human being created him with this reserve. So you come, O doctor, with your ignorance, O doctor, and you say, "Donate this spare tire." What do you know? Tomorrow it will burst? Therefore, this donation is not permissible at all.