Religious Viewpoints: Sunni Islam

Globalizing processes have rendered as analytically insufficient accounts of authority in the Muslim world that rely exclusively on the interaction between text, discursive method and personified knowledge. The construction and negotiation of globalized authority in Islam, it is argued, can only be understood by reference to a set of pluralizing processes that intensify and in some instances radicalize a tendency towards authoritative pluralism that has long been present in Islam. This can be understood in terms of (1) functionalization, or changes in terms of how individual Muslims understand the social purpose and ends of knowledge seeking; (2) respatialization; and (3) mediatization or interrelated changes in terms of how far away and in what kinds of spaces and media one seeks authority or authorization. Collectively, such pluralizing processes combine to construct global Islamic authority in diverse forms that transcend or challenge conventional understandings of religious knowledge, its location and mode of articulation. Reference is made throughout to illustrative ethnographic examples, social movements and practices.

Donation after circulatory determination of death (DCDD) and xenotransplantation are advanced as possible solutions to the growing gap between the number of individuals in need of organ transplantation and the pool of donors. Investigating how various publics, including religious leaders, might view these "therapies" is essential for broad public and professional support and will be needed in order to make these solutions viable. This study, therefore, presents normative Islamic bioethical perspectives on donation after circulatory determination of death and xenotransplantation. First, we will discuss foundational Islamic ethico-legal debates regarding organ donation. These debates can be grouped into three broad positions, those who consider organ donation categorically impermissible as a violation of human dignity (ḥurma and karāma), those who agree that organ donation is impermissible in principle, but allow it conditionally on the basis of dire necessity (ḍarūra), and those who permit organ donation based on notions of public interest (maṣlaḥa). Next, we will reflect upon the additional ethical dimensions DCDD and xenotransplantation add to these debates. We contend that the condition of minimal harm to the donor and the definition of death need to be accounted for within Islamic perspectives on DCDD. Xenotransplantation, on the other hand, highlights concerns about using pigs for therapeutic purposes. We conclude by commenting on additional questions that remain to be addressed in the Islamic bioethical debate over these practices and with recommendations for further research.