What is the Islamic view on organ transplants, including ones involving non-halal-sourced material?

Preserving human life carries enormous weight in Islamic law — the Quran states that saving one life is akin to saving all of humanity. Building on this, most contemporary fiqh councils permit organ transplantation, whether from a consenting human donor (living or, in many rulings, deceased with prior consent) or, where medically necessary, materials of animal origin such as porcine-derived heart valves, when no equally effective halal-sourced alternative exists and the procedure is the standard medical recommendation. The reasoning again rests on necessity and on the fact that such material is medically transformed and integrated into the body rather than consumed as food, which scholars treat differently from dietary rulings. That said, views do vary between scholars and schools of thought, particularly on details like brain-death criteria or organ sale, so if you or a family member is facing a transplant decision involving animal-derived material, it's worth discussing both the medical facts and the religious dimension with your doctor and a scholar familiar with contemporary medical fiqh.

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