Kidneys and Controversies in the Islamic Republic of Iran: The Case of Organ Sale

Abstract

Iran is the only official Shi'a Islamic country, with Ithna-Ashari, or Twelver Shi'ism, as the dominant form. For various reasons, in part due to the interpretive approach to jurisprudence in Ithna-Ashari Shi'ism, but also due to other aspects of Iranian culture, the Iranian approach to medical science and technology is dramatically different from that in most other Islamic countries. In Iran, what is and is not considered Islamically acceptable is constantly being renegotiated depending upon social, political, economic and technological conditions. This kind of flexibility, and often pragmatic approach to social problems, has major positive and progressive implications for health policy on numerous levels. However, the drive to embrace new technologies and capabilities can also precede or override ethical deliberations. Drawing on fundamental religious and ethical debates within the country, as well as interviews and observations in an Iranian transplant center, this article investigates Islamic discourse, perceptions of life, death and the body, and the case of organ sale/donation in Iran.This article is based on a qualitative pilot investigation conducted in 2002 in Shiraz, Iran. Interviews were conducted with health professionals working in

“The Heavier Selves”: Embodied and Subjective Suffering of Organ Sellers in Bangladesh

“…Currently, a number of ethnographic studies examine the bodily suffering of organ recipients, altruistic donors, and their families (see Budiani ; Crowley‐Matoka ; Fox and Swazey ; Gordon ; Hamdy ; Hogle ; Ikels ; Kaufman ; Lock ; Lundin ; Manderson ; Papagaroufali ; Sanal ; Sharp ; Tober ). In contrast, only a handful of ethnographic accounts of commercial kidney sellers have been published to date (Budiani‐Saberi and Delmonico ; Cohen ; Goyal et al.…”

“…Several Muslim sellers also said that due to their unethical act, they were unable to follow the Islamic precept of Tawhid . Tawhid means that God is one, and the only one, who created everyone from a single soul; thus, everyone has the same fundamental essence (Scheper‐Hughes and Lock ; Tober ). Therefore, Muslim sellers reasoned that organ trade in prohibited in Islam because it is an infringement of bodily integrity and permanent alteration of the sacred body (see a similar discussion by Adam and Ifta 2005; Ahmed ; Hamdy ; Sachedina ).…”

“…Currently, a number of ethnographic studies examine the bodily suffering of organ recipients, altruistic donors, and their families (see Budiani 1990;Crowley-Matoka 2016;Fox and Swazey 1992;Gordon 2001;Hamdy 2012;Hogle 1996;Ikels 1997;Kaufman 2005;Lock 2002;Lundin 2015;Manderson 2011;Papagaroufali 1999;Sanal 2011;Sharp 2006;Tober 2007). In contrast, only a handful of ethnographic accounts of commercial kidney sellers have been published to date (Budiani-Saberi and Delmonico 2008;Cohen 1999;Goyal et al 2002;Mendoza 2010;Moazam, Zaman, and Jafarey 2009;Moniruzzaman 2012;Naqvi et al 2007;Padilla 2009;Scheper-Hughes 2000;Zargooshi 2001).…”

Introducing an Exploitation/Fair Dealings Scale for Evaluating Living Organ Donor Policies Using Iran as the Test Case

“…It is common in ethnographic studies for there to be just one interviewer and no recording of the interview other than the researcher's personal notes. This is the case for all ethnographic studies involving Iranian living organ donors of which we are aware (Broumand et al, ; Farahani and Esmaeili, ; Tober, ; Tong et al, ; Zargooshi, , ).…”

Structured Forgetting and the Social Organization of Kidney Exchange in Ontario

“…Here there is a statesupported regulated monetary living donation model. It relies on strangers as the pool of potential donors and monetary terms of exchange within a nationalist kidneys-for-cash market (Bagheri & Delmonico, 2013;Ghods, 2008;Tober, 2007;.…”