Islamic ethics and modern questions
Islamic Studies · Key Stage 3 · The School
When the texts do not mention it
Organ donation, cryptocurrency and AI are not in the Quran. Scholars reason by analogy from established cases, by considering public benefit, and by working from the higher aims of the law. This is IJTIHAD — disciplined effort — and it is why an unchanging revelation can meet situations nobody in the 7th century imagined.
The higher aims
Classical scholars, notably al-Ghazali and later ash-Shatibi, described the law as protecting five things: religion, life, intellect, lineage and property. When a new question arises, asking which of these are at stake is often the first move — and it is why medical treatment, education and honest contracts are treated as religious matters, not merely practical ones.
Discussing it honestly
On contested questions, scholars differ, and a lesson that hides that is teaching something false. The honest form is: here is the reasoning on each side, here is where the majority sits, here is what remains disputed — and for your own case, ask a qualified scholar. This platform holds itself to that too: educational support, never a fatwa.
QUESTION: is organ donation permitted? There is no text about it. Scholars reason from the higher aims (maqasid) — the preservation of LIFE is among them, which supports donation; the dignity of the body counts against treating it as a resource. Weighing those, many contemporary councils permit it with conditions, some do not, and they publish their reasoning. That process — and the disagreement it produces — is the answer to how new questions are handled.