Attitudes of Islamic Religious Officials Toward Organ Transplantation

A new report recommends consultation and discussion with Islamic religious leaders on organ donation as an opportunity to improve the current donation rates.

Researchers at Suleyman Demirel University (Isparta, Turkey) conducted a survey among 165 religious people to reveal the attitudes of Islamic religious officials toward organ donation and transplantation. The survey consisted of a questionnaire that asked them about their sociodemographic features, behaviors, and knowledge about and attitudes toward organ donation.

The results showed that most of the religious leaders who responded (71.5%) believe that donation is appropriate according to Islamic beliefs. On the other hand, only 51.5% of those surveyed indicated a willingness to donate, and only three of the officials had donor cards. In addition, while more than half (57.6%) declared that people had asked them for advice and opinions on organ donation, 32.7% said that they do not have enough knowledge about organ donation. The study was published on January 10, 2013, in Clinical Transplantation.

“Consultation with a religious leader on organ donation is an important source of information for the community, providing an opportunity to improve the current organ donation rates,” concluded study coauthor Ersin Uskun, MDS, MD, of the department of public health. “This study indicates that education, especially directed toward religious leaders, to improve organ and tissue donation and transplantation would help to improve those rates.”

The Islamic Jurisprudence Assembly Council in Saudi Arabia approved deceased and live donation in a landmark decision in 1988. Similar formal rulings are in place in, among others, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. A recent review of 70 contemporary fatwas confirmed some degree of heterogeneity, although all supported transplantation. The majority of Islamic religious leaders accept organ donation during life and after death in order to save life, but do not accept brain death as a criterion and consider cessation of all signs of life, including heartbeat, as a precondition for declaring death.

However, although internationally most Islamic scholars endorse organ donation, many individuals within the faith are still reluctant, particularly regarding deceased donation. Thus, most transplants in many predominantly Muslim countries are still live donations. In Iran, deceased donation amounted to only just 13% of renal transplants performed in 2006. In Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, the numbers are about 25%. It is therefore vital that education in organ donation be targeted at those individuals who are most influential within a community.

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Suleyman Demirel University