Examination of the Legal and Jurisprudential Foundations of the Purchase, Sale, and Donation of Human Organs

Abstract

The theory of brain death and the issue of organ transplantation, in addition to being among the topics subject to examination and analysis in medical science, constitute highly significant and noteworthy issues in jurisprudence and law as well. This matter has been raised with particular sensitivity in Islamic jurisprudence, as the subject is directly connected to the bodily integrity of individuals, and from the perspective of Islamic law, special importance is attributed to the human being and his bodily integrity as the vicegerent of God (Khalīfat Allāh). The present study was conducted with the objective of examining the legal and jurisprudential foundations of the purchase, sale, and donation of human organs, employing a descriptive–analytical method and utilizing library-based and documentary sources. Based on the research findings and through reference to jurisprudential and legal sources, while critically analyzing the arguments advanced by proponents of the prohibition and invalidity of the sale and purchase of human organs, and considering the existence of legitimate and rational benefits arising from organ transplantation—such as saving human life or relieving a person from pain and suffering, which itself constitutes a rational and legitimate purpose—and in light of the applicability of the general principles of sale (ʿumūm adillat al-bayʿ) to the permissibility and validity of transactions involving objects that entail rational and legitimate benefits, the study emphasizes the theory of permissibility and validity.