28 March 2018
Organ donation and transplantation in Islam
Organ donation [and transplantation] is the donation [or transplantation] of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of transplantation. One of the highest objectives (maqāsid) of Sharia is the preservation of life. This higher objective is fundamentally premised on Islam’s scriptures namely the Qur’an and Ḥadīth (or Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad). Accordingly, Islamic civilisation excelled in medicine for over 1000 years and helped forge medicine as a scientific discipline. Utilising Islamic legal maxims (kuliyyāt) such as ‘hardship is to be alleviated,’ ‘hardship begets facility,’ and ‘necessity makes the unlawful lawful,’ legal scholars and medical doctors sought to find solutions to complex medical issues. Among those are the issue of organ donation and transplantation. However, very few people, including Muslims, donate their organs for the benefit of other. Why? Could the reasons be due to restrictions found in the Sharia, or other socio-psychological reasons? This presentation will discuss this important issue from an Islamic jurisprudential perspective, exploring arguments for and against organ donation and transplantation.
Professor Mohamad Abdalla is one of Australia’s most prominent and respected Muslim leaders, combining the roles of an academic scholar, public intellectual, community leader and commentator. Over the last two decades, he established and directed three academic centres: the Griffith University Islamic Research Unit (GIRU), the Griffith University Node of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (a consortium between the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Sydney), and the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) at the University of South Australia. His publications including Islamic schooling in the West: Pathways to Renewal (2018); Leadership in Islam: Processes and Solutions in Australian Organizations (2018); Islamic Science: The myth of the decline theory (2008); and Islam in the Australian News Media (2010). Professor Abdalla held multiple distinguished community and academic posts, and received multiple civic awards, including the Ambassador of Peace Award, the Community Leadership Award, the Islamic Council of Queensland Community Service Award, and the Crescents of Brisbane Special Achievement Award.
Date: Thursday 28 March 2019
Time: 5:45pm for 6pm start to 7pm
Venue: Islamic Society of South Australia, 658 Marion Road Park Holme SA 5043
Register: Free Eventbrite or email cite@unisa.edu.au
