Chairman, Islamic Ideology Council of Pakistan, MNA, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani on Wednesday confirmed that consensus, based on majority of opinion, exists about permissibility of "Organ Donation and Transplantation," among religious scholars from different schools of Islamic thought, in the country.
Addressing a seminar organised by Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, Karachi University in collaboration with Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, he said the Council, under chairmanship of different Islamic jurisprudent had over the years, consented relevance and need for living as well as cadaver organ donation in the country.
Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani regretted that since owing to reasons Islamic Ideology Council was not extended due status by authorities at varied levels its clear stance about a cause beneficial for human lives was never made duly public in the country.
Mentioning that IICoP holds a constitutional relevance yet due to rampant indifference many of the IICoP reports compiled over the years including that on living as well as cadaver organ donation and transplantation were never reviewed by concerned ministries nor placed before the parliament, he regretted.
"It was only on March 17 this year that I have managed to ensure that council's reports, 2012-2013 and 2014 and 2015 are duly vetted by Ministry of Law and incorporated accordingly," said Maulana Shirani.
He on the occasion also responded to submissions by speakers of the moot and said queries raised about eligibility of non-Muslim recipients to organ donated by Muslim holds no ground as nothing is beyond the authority of Allah almighty, the lord of this universe.
Organ retrieval without any sort of mutilation or causing humiliation to donors is permissible particularly if is for saving a human life, he said, adding it can not be used as tool of exploitation under any condition.
Maulana Sheerani suggested need for studies on wide range of issues that ultimately established the writ of Allah with mandatory provision for equity and justice in the country.
Senior religious scholar Maulana Munib ur Rehman in his presidential address said issue related to save lives and also to improve life quality of people suffering from organ failure has been repeatedly approved by Islamic scholars pertaining to both Shia and Sunni Fiqah.
Summing up presentations made by around 20 speakers, representing different schools of thought, from across the country during the seminar, he said there was urgency to duly publicise the point of view of the scholars about an issue that holds extreme relevance to the country.
Parliamentarians must take into account stance of IIC and also that of scholars that may further be duly understood by the masses so as to address rampant discrepancies, he said.
Earlier, Dr Faisal Shaheen the pioneer of organ transplantation in Saudi Arabia mentioned that culture of organ donation and transplantation gained roots in his country in 1982 as the Ulema Council of Islamic Jurisprudence approved the schemes that gradually encompassed entire middle eastern world.
"We have an organ bank that immediately facilitates need for organ in country of the region," said the senior transplant physician and surgeon in his online address.
He also mentioned that an air ambulance service was also part of the exercise and that transplantation of liver, lung, heart, cornea, small gall bladder, pancreas and kidney was conducted on routine basis with a motive to save precious human lives.
Dr Mustafa Mousavi from Kuwait Centre of Transplant Medicine shared the experience in particular context of deceased organ donation that was extremely beneficial for hundreds of people on yearly basis.
He, in his online presentation, partially in Arabic particularly addressed the religious scholars and students of Shaikh Zayed Islamic Centre and emphasised that the medical requirement was endorsed under Quranic injunctions.
Syed Baqar Abbas Zaidi (a graduate of Qum University) mentioned provision of organ bank in Iran too where the peculiar field of medicine was claimed to had gone a long way.
Mufti Muhammad Ibrahim, President, JUI - Sindh and Principal Madrassa-e-Dinia, Sukkur, Mufti Zameer Ahmed Zahid from Dawwah University Islamabad, Mufti Ikramullah from Madrassa-e-Aalia, Binori Town, Shaikh ul Hadith, Allama Siddiq from Lahore, Dr Mohsin Naqvi, Maulana Shahenshah Hussain Naqvi, Maulana Hammad ur Rehman Ludhianvi from Faisalabad, Maulana Naqi Saqibuddin, Professor Abdul Hasan Rizvi, Dr Hafiz Ikram ul Haq, Secretary, IIC and other were among the speakers on the occasion.
The consensus opinion of all these speakers was that organ donation was a service to humanity however extreme care is needed to ensure that a medical service may not be converted into commercial venture.
The speakers also discussed relevance of will made by the donors, rights and responsibilities of their heirs, state responsibility and also the conditions under which live donation could be permissible.
Comments
Comments are closed.