A BRADFORD-based Islamic scholar has published a new fatwa in the hopes of clarifying the position on organ donation ahead of changes to the life-saving service next year.

Mufti Mohammed Zubair Butt, a leading Sunni scholar, has reviewed the current guidance on organ donation within the Muslim community, and aims to address a number of concerns around the Islamic position on whether Muslims can donate their organs after death.

The fatwa – a nonbinding legal opinion on a point of Islamic law – states that deceased organ donation is permissible in principle, providing all requirements have been met to indicate that the soul has left the body.

It is designed to help people decide whether they wish to be a donor after their death, and Muslim chaplains, scholars and Imams are encouraged to use the advice to raise the important issue.

It comes as the consent system for organ donation in England will move to an “opt out” system from spring next year.

Mufti Mohammed Zubair Butt said: “I sincerely hope that this fatwa will bring some clarity on a variety of widely held concerns around the permissibility of organ donation and transplantation and will serve as a catalyst for Imams, Muslim chaplains and scholars to discuss the issue amongst themselves and with their congregations and audiences.”

The new religious edict covers all forms of donation, including blood, stem cells, living donation and organ donation after death. The document acknowledges that organ donation saves lives and states that donation after death is permissible, providing all requirements have been satisfied to indicate the departure of the soul from the body.

Earlier fatwas on organ donation were released in 1995 and 2000. The new one draws upon the four established Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence and looks to complement the existing knowledge and serve as a discussion document for Imams, Muslim chaplains and scholars.

It is the culmination of several years’ work supported by NHS Blood and Transplant and comes ahead of the changes to the service. From next spring, all adults in England will be considered as having agreed to donate their organs unless they record a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

Only 31 per cent of Muslims surveyed recently said that they support organ donation, with just 14 per cent of those strongly supporting – while 37 per cent oppose donation, with 25 per cent of them strongly opposing.

NHS Blood and Transplant hopes that the new fatwa will lead to more Muslims in the UK accepting that organ donation can go ahead in line with their faith and that more will agree to sign up to become organ donors.

Three people die on average every day in need of an organ transplant because of the shortage of suitable organs. The best match will usually come from someone with the same ethnic background and there is a particular shortage of organ donors from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

For more information on organ donation and to record your decision, visit organdonation.nhs.uk.