RIYADH — The General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars said in a statement early Wednesday that the registration of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman in organ donation program is a good deed endorsed by Shariah scientific bodies and academies and the Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia considers the act as highly rewarding. In the statement, the scholars said that the donation of organs after death for the benefit of others is like saving a life, which is one of the greatest purposes of our religion, and there are various laws in Islam governing that purpose as Allah Almighty says: "Whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity." The Council of Senior Scholars issued a fatwa way back in 1982 concerning organ donation and transplantation. The fatwa permitted the removal of an organ or part from a dead person and allowed the donation of an organ, or part of it, to a living person. Recently, the Council of Ministers gave a nod to the human organ donation regulation, which was approved by the Shoura Council in September 2019. The regulation allows for the transfer, cultivation, preservation, and development of organs to preserve human life, protect the rights of those from or to whom human organs are transferred, license health facilities, define their responsibilities in relation to organ donation and transplantation, and prevent exploitation of the patient or donor's need or trafficking in human organs.
