This exquisitely edited, comprehensive volume feels like many books in one: a treatise on Islamic theology and the casuistry of organ donation, a lively work on commonly encountered impressions and misconceptions about the Islamic attitude toward transplants, and an exploration of the social and political dimensions of organ donation among Muslim communities. Each of the four parts includes a selection of texts that focus on the main issues at hand while maintaining a strict tonal coherence and analytical depth throughout. This collection will appeal to Islamic experts and practitioners who want to better understand their own tradition, including the diversity of opinions and nuances. For non-Muslim bioethicists and even for general readers, this volume is the most accessible, richest collection so far on the sometimes complex, often little-known Islamic teachings and traditions pertaining to organ donation and its connected problems. It includes questions about living donors, compensated donation, death determination, and especially social attitudes toward organ ablation. The volume closes with a carefully reasoned expert summary of the lessons this compilation offers. Advanced readers will likely prefer to navigate chapters in normal order. For a fruitful experience, though, beginners may start from this final chapter and proceed backward toward the first. Highly recommended. All readers.

Choice Reviews

Organ Donation in Islam: The Interplay of Jurisprudence, Ethics, and Society makes an important scholarly contribution at the intersection of the Islamic tradition and biomedicine. Co-edited by an interdisciplinary team, the book covers important ethical issues related to organ donation among Muslim communities. This work continues lines of inquiry important to the field of clinical medical ethics as it relates to patient decision making regarding organ donation and transplantation.

Mark Siegler, The University of Chicago