26 May 2008

Deoband against eye donation

In an edict issued in April, Darul Uloom Deoband declared the donation or transplanting of eyes by Muslims undesirable. Their argument was based on the idea that humans are only temporary caretakers of their bodies, while ultimate ownership belongs to God. According to Deoband, a transplanted eye is impure. The edict added, however, that blood transfusion was permissible when it was needed to save lives (ExpressIndia).

What can I say? Using this logic, we could declare almost anything "undesirable". For example, how can we build a house of wood, when God is the ultimate owner of the forest? How can we wash anything using water, when God is its ultimate owner? The answer is simple: God gave us these things to use. According to the Qur'an, he appointed us His representative on earth. It is up to us to use our God-given conscience and intellect in order to utilise these resources in a responsible manner. And wasting an eye that could enable someone else to see is anything but responsible.

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