PIG ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION INTO THE HUMAN BODY

By Dr Shabbir Ahmed

Pig according to Islamic view-point  is an unclean animal, as Allah has pointed out in the Quran:

“ He has forbidden to you carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine; and the animal on which the name other than Allah is pronounced”  ( Al- baqara, 2:173)

Islam, being the religion true to nature, prohibits all that degenerate man’s nature or health. Let us understand why Allah has prohibited the commodities mentioned in the above verse.

1. CARRION: The blood of the animal is not drained out. Different types of microbes and bacteria are present in the stagnant blood. The eating of a carrion endangers the health. Hence Allah has forbidden it.
2. BLOOD: Drinking of blood is prohibited in Islam because of two reasons. Firstly the blood is inframicrobe and hence injurious for health. Secondly it’s drinking bring forth the nature of animals and tends to change human nature.
3. SWINE ( DOMESTIC PIG): According to the word of Allah, the pig is unclean and filthy in the general sense. Another verse of the Quran states:

“Say (O prophet): ‘ I find nothing in what has been revealed to me forbidden to eat if one wants to eat thereupon unless it be carrion or blood poured forth or the flesh of swine for this is filthy or a sinful offering which is slaughtered to other (gods) then Allah.” (Al-An’aam 6:145)

The prohibition of eating pork, the flesh of swine is due to the filthiness of the animal pig, an omnivorous non-ruminant mammal of the family Sudae - a sow, hog, or boar, a swine.  The Arabic word RIJS literally means dirt, filth, dirty thing or act, atrocity.  True a pig is squalid by nature.  The use of a RIJS thing or a RIJS action is harmful to the human body externally and internally.

External harm is the manifestation of various diseases.  Many tests have already been carried out and many more are being undertaken to find more about these diseases.  Books are full of describing the pig viruses. 

These are the reasons that the scientists are not fully satisfied about the use of the pig organ for human transplantation.      

In Shariah (Islamic jurisprudence), the issue of the transplantation of animal organs into human body deals with the following five categories of animals:

1. Slaughtered Edible Meat (S-EM)
2. Non-slaughtered Edible Meat (NS-EM)
3. Slaughtered Non edible Meat (S-NEM)
4. Non-slaughtered Non edible Meat (NS-NEM)
5. Squalid Non edible Meat (SQ-NEM)                                                                                     

Following is the demarcation of these five categories of the animals:

1. S-EM            :            Permitted to be eaten and also slaughtered Islamically
2. NS-EM:            Permitted to be eaten but not slaughtered Islamically
3. S-NEM:            Not permitted to be eaten and slaughtered Islamically
4. NS-NEM:            Not permitted to be eaten but slaughtered Islamically
5. SQ-NEM:            Strongly prohibited to be eaten because of being squalid by substance.

Then there are two different situations that should be kept in mind in order to find and apply verdict about the animal transplantation to human body.

A.        NECESSITY:  It depicts the situation of the requirement of a thing or a performance necessary for some important function but it can be delayed.

B.         EXIGENCY:    It depicts the situation when no other alternative is available to save one’s life except the use of a thing or the performance of an act that is basically prohibited.  No other substitute is available at the spot and any delay is fatal.

Thus, when the above two situations are combined into the above five categories of animals, the cases are available for any of the following four verdicts – Permitted, Prohibited, Not Clean and Permitted/Prohibited:

I.       PERMITED: 1A, 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B

II.     PROHIBITED: 5A

III.  NOT CLEAR: 4A

IV.  PREMITTED/PROHIBTED: 2A, 3A, 5B

MY HUMBLE OPINION

The issue is still not clear from an Islamic point of view. More findings and researches are needed to have a unanimous codified verdict. I dare give my opinion at hand as follows:

·        In the case of necessity the Animal Organ Transportation (AOT) is totally prohibited for the cases 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A but in the cases 1A and 1B, AOT is permitted as declared by a good number of scholars.

·        In the remaining cases 2B, 3B, 4B and particularly 5B (Pig Organ), AOT may be permitted with the following conditions, taken all together: 

1.      No alternative animal organ of category 1 of a human being is available

2.      It is declared by the attending doctors that the patient is going to die if his organ is not transplanted at the moment.

3.      There should be very strong chance of the life saving. If there is a probability but not certainty (at least 75 percent) if use is not valid.

4.      It is associated like no physical, mental, psychological or moral degeneration would take place in future because of transplantation.

 SCIENTEST ARE NOT CLEAR

The difficulty at the moment is that no scientist categorically claims that medically there is no harm in Pig organ transplantation. (POT).

Even the environment scientists have the reservations that there are many issues in a pig that are transformed to the human body through (POT).

An eminent veterinary director Ahmed Jawwad has written a book on the pig in Arabic titled Alkhinzeer baima meezaan-il-shara wa minzaar il aalan (The pig between the scale of Sahariah and the precept of the the world). In this book he has discussed Shariah aspect. He has proved with science references that innumerable viruses in the pig.  He informs that there are 66 diseases that can occur to any human being having POT. For the details this book should be studied.

Another scholar Dr Halook Noor Boaqia, the oncologist, radio Therapist and radio biology specialist has written a book in Turkish language that has been translated into English titled ‘ The Quranic verses and Scientific facts. He has proved that there are certain incurable diseases cropped up in human beings by the use of the pig meat (pork), which may cause danger to life. Details can be found from the book.

There are many scientist other then Muslim scientist that are convinced that viruses are transformed to the human body by POT.

‘The idea of using  animal organs for transplant is controversial because some believe illnesses could cross from pig to humans’.

      (National Post online; March 15, 2000)

‘ The campaign for Responsible Transplantation (CRT) was launched on January 20, 1998 out of concern over the irresponsible rush to commercialize animal-to human organ, cell and tissue transplantation (Xenotransplantation) using genetically modified pigs, and nonhuman primates. CRT believes that Xenotransplantation posses a grave danger to human health because of the risk of transferring deadly animal viruses to the human population Xenotransplantation  would burden our society with numerous health, environmental, economic, ethical and legal problems and would cause tremendous human and nonhuman suffering. There are safer and more cost-effective ways to resolve the alleged shortage of human organs for transplantation that are not being adequately explored.’

(Campaign Responsible Transplantation- CRT)

For more info please visit: www.crt.-online.org/index.html

CONCLUSION

Keeping in view the reservation of the scientist about the POT, Islam does not allow it. Islam permits eating pig pork only in case of emergency- Life saving, which seems reasonable. But in case of permanent uncertainty about the future life after POT, Islam strongly directs one to keep away from destruction. Hence I, hereby, suggest to direct attention towards the research of some other animal compatible to human system other than pig to avoid uncertainty and controversy.