Donating Organs without the Consent of the Spouse
Social Issues
Question asked by .
Answered by Ameer Hamza
Question:

My husband has donated his kidney without my consent. He did not tell me anything till he had had the operation. I would like to know what Islam says about this and how should I react now?



Answer:

I think the ideal response now that everything has happened should be to continue to cooperate with your husband. There is nothing that you can do now to change what has happened. However, you could in a polite manner inform him of your dissatisfaction about the fact that he took such an important decision without consulting you. It would be important for you to find out what prompted him to avoid you in his decision making process. At times, due to lack of complete understanding, matters tend to get worse. Talk to him about this; and like a good companion, let him know that you would have liked him to share this with you before taking a final decision.

Since he is your husband, he has a responsibility towards you and such an important decision about his health should have ideally been made after consultation with you.

From an Islamic perspective, there are two broad viewpoints that I am aware of on this issue. One of them is that blood and organ donation is permissible since we attempt to save the life of another human being to please the Almighty. The other viewpoint is that our body is something that Allah has given to us and we must protect it as best as we can. Hence it is argued that we have no right to give away its parts of our own accord. Personally, I agree with the former argument. But you may choose to stick to the one that you find more convincing.

As I see it, your husband made a decision about an important matter that was related to you and your family’s well-being. Hence I believe he should have consulted you—regardless of whether eventually he might have even ignored your opinion. Having said that, I think that for the sake of the family and your relationship with him, you should discuss this matter with him to find out what led him to do this without consulting you. Hopefully, this will help you in getting a better understanding of the situation and making the correct decision.

   
 
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