Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Speaking Tree I August 10, 2014

God Almighty created human beings and all other forms of life. Everything big or small that we enjoy in this world is a gift from the Creator. The Quran says,"He has given you all that you asked of Him." (14:34). By ourselves, we cannot create something out of nothing.Without Divine Grace, it would not be possible for us to live comfortably on planet Earth. If we suffer an injury and apply the right medicine, the injury is cured because our body accepts the treatment. It's a divine blessing, because that the body accepts healing is also something facilitated by cosmic forces.We could not have created this capacity all by ourselves.

Another such blessing is chloroform.It was its use that made medical surgery possible. Referring to this divine blessing,the Scottish surgeon John Brown (1810-1882) said:"One of God's best gifts to His suffering children." The medical procedure of organ transplantation also figures in the long list of divine blessings.Organ transplantation is the removing of an organ from the donor's body and giving it to another for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. This discovery has made a valuable addition to the list of donations that human beings can make.

Traditionally,donation was the giving of food or money. But now, it has become possible for a person to donate an organ, such as eye, kidney or blood,for example,to another person, so that the latter can become well once again and lead a healthy life.Currently,as per medical advances,12 kinds of organs can be donated and transplanted.If the organ of one person is transplanted into the body of another by means of surgery and the recipient's body accepts the donor's organ, this is a biological miracle.It was the Creator who invested the human body withthis potential.

Had the human body not been created with this capacity, organ transplantation would not have been at all possible.Thus, organ transplantation is also a part of the creation process as is the organ itself.When something is part of Creation, it is more than right to say that since the Creator created this capability in the human body,it is also required that we should discover this possibility and utilise it for our benefit.

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It is an Islamic teaching that every man and woman must live in society as a giver-member. Organ donation does not in any way go against religious teaching and is as good as the donation of food and money.This is a great human value; there is no doubt about it.

In Islam, there is a concept called sadqa jariya, or continued charity. It means that if one donates something and its benefit reaches people even after the death of the donor, then that is continued charity. It would be appropriate to say that modern medical science has added a very useful item to the list of sadqa jariya.

Medical science tells us that whenone person donates an organ of hisbody to another, this is a totally safeprocedure so long as routine precautionsare taken and the recipient's body does not reject the donated organ dueto the body's natural defence mechanism.For the donor,there is no risk orharm in this practice.Organ donation is the noblest form of charity.