Islamic Center of Southern California

The Arguments of Islamic Law Rulings on Recent Medical Issues

Topic Nineteen

Genital Gland and Organ Transplants

Definition

This topic includes two categories: genital glands and genital organs, details of which are as follows.

First: genital glands (the testicles in the case of men and the ovaries in the case of women) have two functions:

1. production of sperms in men and ova in women, and

2. secretion of hormones, which in the case of females affect all body systems, while in the case of males, they affect secondary characteristics such as the growth of facial hair, voice change, bone structure, and the beginning of sexual desire.

Testicle and ovary transplants are still in the stage of experimentation in developed countries.

Second: genital organs are the penis, vulva, and uterus. Transplanting these organs is still a scientific fantasy, but artificial vulvas and vaginas have been devised. Moreover, mechanical devices are used to replace a cut-off organ and perform its functions.

The question here is the ruling on the performance of such operations, if they prove successful, for people who need these glands and organs to function normally, due to some disorder in their sexual functions.

The Legal Position Chosen by the IOMS and Its Argument

The recommendations of the sixth seminar, An Islamic Perspective of the Implanting of Certain Human Organs, in 1989 include the following:

First: The seminar concludes that since a testicle and an ovary continue to have and produce the genetic code of the donor even after they are implanted in the recipient, their transplantation is categorically prohibited, because it leads to the confusion of lineage and a born infant will not be the offspring to a husband and a wife legitimately bound by marriage.

Second: The seminar, by majority of opinion, finds that organ transplants of the genital system that carry no genetic characteristics, excluding the external organs, is lawful when it is done to meet a legitimate necessity and in accordance with the legal criteria and controls listed in the previously referred to resolution 1 of the fourth session of the Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) Academy in 1408 H.

The Position of the Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) Academy

The position of the Academy is the same as that of the IOMS. On genital organ transplants, resolution 59/8/6 says:

The Council of the Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) Academy - in its sixth conference held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the period 17 - 23 Sha'baan 1410 H. (14 - 20 March, 1990) - having reviewed the papers and recommendations on this subject, which was one of the topics of the sixth jurisprudence (fiqh)/medical seminar held in Kuwait from 23 - 26 Rabee' I, 1410 H. (23 - 26 October 1989) in collaboration between this academy and the Islamic Organization of Medical Sciences(IOMS) - decides the following:

1. Genital Gland Transplants:

Since a testicle and an ovary continue to have and produce genetic characteristics (the genetic code) of the donor even after they are implanted in the recipient, their transplantation is prohibited in Islamic Law.

2. Organ Transplants of the Genital System:

Transplants of some genital system organs that carry no genetic characteristics, excluding the external organs, is lawful when it is done to meet a legitimate necessity and in accordance with the legal criteria and controls listed in resolution 1 of the fourth session of this Academy.

3. The procedures of organ transplants should never be subject to commercial purposes.

4. Supervision of organ transplants should be entrusted to a specialized, trustworthy authority. Islamic Center of Southern California