Organ donation and Muslims in the Netherlands: A transnational fatwa in focus

This article outlines one of the rich ethico-religious debates on organ donation and Muslims in the West by unravelling the Dutch case. Since the 1990s and up to this very moment, the standpoints of Muslims living in the Netherlands towards organ donation have been giving rise to heated socio-political and public debates. Islam, the religion of Muslims living in the Netherlands, has always been focal element in these debates. This article studies a fatwa on organ donation which was issued during a conference held in the Netherlands in 2006. Besides studying the fatwa, the article also pays attention to the socio-political context in which the fatwa was issued and its reception after the conference.