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Session Details
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| Guest Name |
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty
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| Profession |
A Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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| Subject |
Donating Blood
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| Date |
Wednesday,Jun 9 ,2004
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Time |
Makkah
From...
15:15...To...
16:45
GMT
From... 12:15...To...13:45
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| Name |
Editor
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| Question |
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Brothers and sisters, we are so sorry for not answering all your questions because the time is over. We apologize for any inconvenience. Do keep in touch. Join us in coming sessions.
Yours,
Islam Online Fatwa Editing Desk.
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| Name |
Salma
- United Kingdom
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Dear respected scholar,
Thank you for this opportunity. I’ve noticed that most Muslims of my community do not volunteer time, money or blood for that matter to the people they live with. Most Muslims prefer to isolate themselves from their surroundings when they live in a non-Muslim country. How can I encourage them to be more active and to give? How can I convince them that community volunteer activities are important regardless of where one lives and regardless of who benefits from those activities?
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
You have indeed raised a vital issue. Muslims toady are apathetic. Unless they shake themselves off the apathy and complacency and participate in the communities they are part of, they will be marginalized.
It is the mandate of the Qur’an for Muslims to take initiatives for good works in the community. By failing to do that they are shirking their mission and responsibility. How can Muslims be faithful to the Qur'anic mandate when they keep themselves apart from the responsibility of the community. Didn't the Qur'an teach us that all Prophets were part of their communities as they addressed them as "my people" Are we in a position to address them as 'my people"?
Participating in the life of the communities we are living is not only a recommendation but a mandatory duty dictated by the teachings of Islam.
We cannot exercise our Islam effectively unless we become proactive in such activities: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said that he would have no hesitation to rush to join hands with others in such activities; in another report, he is reported to have said, "He would prefer such a participation to owning the whole world as a treasure!"
So it is an urgent call of duty for Imams, scholars, leaders, writers/speakers to motivate Muslims and change their misgivings about participating in the life of the communities they are living.
You can also read:
Duties of Muslims Living in the West
American Muslims: Faithful and Active Citizens
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Riyad
- Kuwait
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| Question |
What is the case of a person who knowingly has AIDS or an infectious disease and still donates blood? Also, what is the case if the doctors that do not screen blood with proper care, and cause diseases to the receivers?
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
The one who is suffering from contagious diseases such as AIDS, SARS, etc, is NOT allowed to donate blood. By doing so they are committing a grave sin. They are harming others and contributing to their death which is the worst sin in Islam.
It is the duty of everyone who knows of such activities to immediately report it to the authorities; for by doing so he is helping to save lives.
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
concerned muslimah
- Canada
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| Profession |
house wife
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| Question |
It pains me no end to see what is happening to the Ummah in the world today. May Allah with Power and Mercy unite us, and gives us victory over the fasikun or the sinners.
I would like to know what are the reasons behind all the division between the believers of Allah? What can be done to bring the young and old back to the way of Allah and to unite the Ummah?
May Allah protect the Ummah and guide it to the right path.
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Your question reveals your care and concern for the state of the Ummah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), is reported to have said, “Whoever has no concern for the state of the Muslims, he/she is not one of them!”
In this critical juncture, we need to engage in an honest and thorough self-examination. We must do this individually as well as collectively. A close look will convince us that we have veered away from our original Qur'anic mandate of being the bearers of a universal mission. The Qur'an calls us the community of the middle way (ummatan-wasatan).
Being true to this mission, demands that we become steadfast witnesses of truth and justice in the world. I don't think we are fulfilling this mandate.
Having said this, I must add: that beginning of every change in the world starts in the individual consciousness. Therefore, it is the duty of every Muslim to examine himself/herself, and take the initiative in his/her community. In this way, we can all make a difference in the world. After all, the greatest success story ever enacted in the world was begun by a single individual: an unlettered orphan of Makkah who had no material support whatsoever. He did what he did solely by trusting in Allah and believing in his own power. May Allah help us regain this consciousness and pass on the same to others and make us all instruments of change for a better world, aameen.
You can also read:
Muslim Unity and Solidarity in the Face of Crisis
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Abiodon
- Nigeria
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In my country, it is common for people to donate blood for a fee. This results in many problems, including poor quality of blood from the donor after giving blood too frequently. Is it acceptable in Islam to donate blood for a fee? Thank you.
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
As said earlier in this session, Muslims should not degrade themselves in this way; they should not deprive themselves of the opportunity to earn enormous rewards for such a charitable deed by turning it into a commercial transaction.
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Bassam
- United Kingdom
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| Profession |
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| Question |
I want to thank you for this very interesting topic. My local Mosque has been considering having a campaign for blood donations on June 14 on the occasion of the World Blood Donor Day. Is it halal to collect blood donations in a Mosque or Islamic center if it is done by experienced doctors and nurses?
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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
You are to be congratulated for taking such a noble initiative. If we are to judge by the sound teachings of Islam, it is not only considered as permissible to do so, rather it can be deemed as highly recommended. During the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the sick people were being cared for and nursed in the sacred precincts of the Mosque.
Blood donation is not different; but if you have a choice, then free the main prayer hall for those who wish to pray, and use the extensions or side halls or basement for such projects.
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Rami
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| Question |
Is it allowed to get financial compensation for donating blood?
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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
I don’t think we should think of financial compensation for such a meritorious act. By doing this we are indeed degrading ourselves and losing rewards of a great charitable act.
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Beatrice
- United States
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| Profession |
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| Question |
From what I see and hear, Muslims are more interested in blowing themselves up and in killings and bombings than they are in giving and saving lives. What is the reason you are having this chat on donating blood?
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
You have indeed raised a serious question. However, it would be justified only if we are allowed to judge all Muslims and judge them as criminals based on the action of a tiny minority among them. There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world; how could anyone in the right mind judge them by the actions of a fringe group?
Let us be fair. If we are to judge all Christians by what the colonialists or what America has done (Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Vietnam, Iraq, etc are only a few examples) will it be fair? Some historians have concluded there is more blood in the hands of the so called Christians than any other religious group in the world (after all Hitler and the colonialists, etc were not Muslims).
Based on such facts, can we judge all Christians as partners in the crime? Are we allowed to judge all the Jews based on what the Israel has been doing to the Palestinians?
How come we are exercising double standards while judging Muslims? It seems that when it comes to judging Muslims we are allowed to indulge in all sorts of stereotyping, and racism, which we never do while judging others.
God wants us to be just and fair. This is why the great Prophet Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him), said, "Why see the speck in your brother's eyes when you have a log in your own eyes!"
The above advice should be heeded equally by Muslims as well as non-Muslims.
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Muhammad
- Saudi Arabia
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| Question |
Does a person receive thawab or reward for donating blood?
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Definitely. Even as he/she will be entitled to rewards to all charitable acts, surely he/she will be entitled to rewarded for this greatest gift of all: gift of life.
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Ali
- Australia
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| Profession |
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| Question |
I live in a non-Muslim country, and would like to know what is the stance of Islam on donating blood to non-Muslim members of my community.
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Muslims should go ahead and donate blood in their communities regardless of the fact that the recipients are Muslims or non-Muslims; just as we receive blood from others, we must also give it to them.
Islam teaches us that we should never reduce ourselves to the level of receivers, rather we must rise to the level of givers.
As already stated before (in response to sister ‘Nadia’ in this session), Muslims are to be charitable towards everyone, Muslims or non-Muslims according to the explicit orders of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Can we think of a better charity than giving someone gift of life which is possible today through blood donation.
Furthermore, who can preclude the fact that such a person who has been saved may end up being a believer in the end?
So let us not be deterred by negative considerations; let us rather be positive about blood donations, leaving the rest to Allah.
You can also read:
Blood Donation to Non-Muslims
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Mohammed
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Dear Scholar, As-Salamu `alaykum. Is it halal to take blood from non-Muslims who drink alcohol and eat pork, considering the fact that what you eat and drink merge with the blood? Thanks.
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| Answer |
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
There is nothing wrong in receiving blood, for all of our faculties in Islam, as we can infer from the sources of Islam, and in consistency with the Islamic world view, are Muslim and therefore obedient to Allah's Laws. So we cannot make a distinction between a ‘Muslim blood’ and ‘non-Muslim blood’.
Moreover, such questions do not arise at all when we cannot be saved from imminent death except through blood donation. For already Allah has allowed us even to eat pork when we are faced with a dire necessity.
Thus, there is already a precedent in the Shari`ah to show that we need not be deterred from receiving blood donations from anyone if it amounts to saving life. The legal maxim, 'exigencies render the prohibited permissible' is generally accepted by all jurists and scholars regardless of their school differences.
Allah Almighty knows best.
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| Name |
Nadia
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| Question |
How does Islam view blood donations? If I live in a non-Muslim country, do I receive a reward for donating blood to the community I live in at large, regardless of the religion of the receiver of my blood?
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| Answer |
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Blood donation is considered an extremely meritorious and rewarding act of charity in Islam; since Islam exhorts us to be charitable to all of God's creation, we cannot think of any charity greater than gift of life.
It is a matter of common knowledge that in many cases, persons injured in accidents, etc. can only be saved from imminent death if they are given enough blood to replace what they have lost.
So by giving blood which is in short supply today Muslims are helping people live; by doing this they are indeed carrying out the order of Allah, “Whoever saves the life of a single person, it is as if he has saved the life of all (of humanity).” (Al-Ma’idah: 32)
Based on the above and similar considerations, scholars and jurists have agreed that Muslims should have no inhibitions whatsoever in donating blood in the communities they are living. They should consider such activities as a most rewarding act of charity.
There is no distinction to be made between Muslims and non-Muslims in donating and receiving blood; all of our bodies and faculties are in a way Muslim (obedient to the laws of Allah). Just as Islam encourages us to be charitable to all regardless of differences of religion or race, there is no distinction to be made in giving or receiving blood; for there can be no greater gift of charity than blood donation as it amounts to saving life. The Qur'anic mandate for Muslims is to foster life and be engaged in activities that strengthen and maintain it in all forms; the opposite of which is destruction or fasad, which includes all activities that diminish or destroy life in various forms.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has exhorted the faithful to be engaged in charitable deeds every single day; he is reported to have said, "Everyday that sun shines, everyone of you ought to do some charitable deeds." He then counted numerous examples of charity all of which are intended to enhance the quality of life. He also said, "There is reward for you in acts of compassion rendered to every creature with a throbbing heart/liver."
In other words, fostering and maintaining life in all forms, human and others, is indeed one of the most meritorious acts, entailing greatest of rewards in the sight of Allah. How can it be otherwise, when humans are the trustees of the earth and as such we are to enhance God's work?
In conclusion: Blood donation is undoubtedly tops the list of charitable deeds; therefore every Muslim and Muslimah should not only participate in it but also take initiatives in their communities to organize blood banks. May Allah give us the honor of saving lives and thus merit rewards both here and in the Hereafter-aameen.
You can also read:
Does Islam Have Anything to Offer Humanity?
Donating Blood to Blood Banks
Blood Donation to Non-Muslims
Islam’s View on Organ Transplants and Donations
Allah Almighty knows best.
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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Brothers and sisters, the session has already started. You can submit your questions. Please, make your questions short and clear so as to help us answer all your questions.
Yours,
Islam Online Fatwa Editing Desk.
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| All Fatwas published on this website (Islamonline.net) represent the juristic views and opinions of eminent scholars and Muftis. They do not necessarily form a juristic approach upheld by this website. Click here to read Full Disclaimer. |
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