Workshop on Medical Ethics 28-30 June 1995/29 Muharram-1 Safar 1416 International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

It was indeed an auspicious occasion when experts in different academic
fields came together to discuss questions confronting Muslim society
based on recent medical advancements. Many medical doctors, lawyers,
and-scholars of Islamic studies met at the International Islamic University,
Islamabad, to discuss these matters. Rector Malik Meraj Khalid inaugurated
the workshop. The president and prime minister of Pakistan, Farook
Ahmad Khan Leghari and Benazir Bhutto, respectively, sent goodwill
messages.
The legality of organ transplants and autoposies, as well as the exact
determination of the actual moment of death, were the main issues of discussion.
These issues were analyzed at length in order to determine whether
there were substantive differences between the approach(es) of medical
specialists and of Islamic studies specialists.
Muhammad Tasin, a prominent Pakistani scholar, delivered the
keynote address: "The Problem of Corneal Transplantation." He examined
the idea of organ transplantation and organ donation after death and found
them Islamically permissible. Since the Qur'an and Sunnah contain no clear
texts on these questions, he argued that the problem should be resolved
through qiyas (analogy). He also argued that, in the case of genuine necessity,
the dissection of corpses was lawful and cited a number of authorities
to support his opinion. Based on this premise, he declared that corneal
transplants were permissible. He also examined critically the arguments of
scholars who consider autopsies to be unlawful.
Tasin refuted the major argwnent of those opposed to transplantation:
Since the individual does not own his/ber body, he/she cannot decide how
to dispose of it after death. He cited several Qur'anic verses that describe
the individual as the owner of his/ber body and wealth. In general, participants
were inclined to support his viewpoint and extend the lawfulness of
transplantation to other human organs. They also generally agreed that an
organ could be donated lawfully by a living individual if the individual's
health would not be affected adversely.
The most vehement opposition came from a medical doctor, Rafiq
Ahmad Ghuncha (assistant professor of anatomy, Armed Forces Medical
College, Rawalpindi). He argued forcefully that a doctor's mandate was
confined to the patient's treatment and not to increasing his/her life span. In
support, he referred to kidney transplants, which, he said, cost on the aver 284
age about Rs 200,000 (roughly $6,250). In the most successful case, a
transplanted kidney scarcely survives for more than four or five years.
Moreover, after the operation, a further Rps. 6OOo (roughly $US 200) is
required for medication. Eventually, this means that a middle-class family
must part with the accumulated resources of virtually all of the patient’s
close relatives. In his opinion, moreover, legalizing transplantation would
encourage trade in human organs, with the result that poor and exploited
segments of society would be lured into donating their organs in the hope
of augmenting their income. He quoted several incidents to stress that the
legalization of this practice would have disastrous consequences. All participants
agreed that trade in human organs was unlawful ...