title: Islamic founding principles on organ transplantation and the evolution of Islamic scholarly opinions on the subject.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Muslims constitute about one-fourth of the human population, and a significant fraction of the organ recipients identify themselves as Muslims. A large fraction of the Muslim population is devout but unclear regarding the religious principles on organ donation and transplantation and is dependent on scholars' and imams' opinions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Qur'an, the authentic Prophetic Traditions, and expert opinions on the subject were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sources of the Islamic founding principles on organ donation and transplantation are the Qur'an, the Prophetic Traditions, Usulul Fiqh or expert opinions based on the Qur'an and Traditions, and Maslaha or the principles of public interest deduced by the scholars. Some Muslim scholars, mostly from the Indian subcontinent, opine that live organ donation, extraction of organs from dead persons, and transplantation are prohibited. Many Arab scholars and Muslim scholars settled in the western hemisphere opine that live organ donation, organ extraction from dead persons, and transplantation are permitted, but organ donation must be a voluntary act of charity. Of late, the Iranian imams/scholars have recognized that the national government may acquire live donor organs for a uniform compensation and equitably distribute the acquired organs to patients with failing organs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current Islamic working principles on transplantation medicine are nonuniform, transitory, and somewhat detached from the bulk of the population. How such heterogeneity is affecting transplantation medicine, and organ donation in particular, among Muslim populations warrants further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah, USA. Electronic address: ruhul.kuddus@uvu.edu.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Kuddus
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000458:organization & administration*