Islamic Creed
Ruling on Transferring Blood from One Person to Another
Shaykh Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baz
Local English rendering of the selected Arabic question and answer. The Arabic source remains authoritative; this is not an official published English edition.
Question
What is the ruling on transferring blood from one person to another? If this is said to be permissible, does the donor sin if he is harmed or dies because of it? Does he come under the warning concerning someone who kills himself?
Answer (English translation)
Answer: Transferring blood from one person to another requires a distinction. If necessity calls for it and the transfer does not harm the donor, there is no sin according to the correct view, because of that necessity. If knowledgeable doctors say that taking the blood will not harm him, and a person in urgent need requires blood compatible with his own, there is no sin in this, Allah willing, according to the preferred view.
However, if it will harm him, then no: he must not harm himself for someone else's benefit. But if a doctor and specialist determine that this quantity will not harm the person, and the recipient needs it, there is no sin in this. It is a form of giving preference to others and doing good.