What are the ruling(s) about organs separated from the body before death?
The rulings regarding organs that are separated from the body before death can be derived from the commentary on specific verses in the Qur'an and from hadith. In the Islamic legal framework, such matters are typically discussed in relation to the concept of ritual purity and the implications of bodily integrity.
In Al-Kafi, it is noted that if a part of a person is cut off while they are alive, the individual is regarded as still alive, and thus the rituals of purification would apply to that person. Specifically, the narration states: If a part is cut from a man, he is regarded as dead. If a person touches him, everything containing bone necessitates washing for the one who touched him, but if it contains no bone, then washing is not required.
Al-Kafi 3:382 This indicates that the presence of bone in the separated organ plays a crucial role in determining whether washing is required for ritual purity.
Furthermore, general principles derived from Islamic law suggest that any organ that is removed from a living person does not render them dead. Therefore, the person remains accountable for ritual obligations until their actual death occurs.
Overall, the understanding is that the separation of an organ does not immediately impact the status of the individual in terms of life or death, and the rulings regarding purification remain contingent upon the actual state of the person's life or death at the time of the separation.
Sources
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Al-Kafi 3:382
Al-Kafi · Book 3, Hadith 382
He said: If a part is cut from a man, he is regarded as dead. If a person touches him, everything containing bone necessitates washing for the one who touched him, but if it contains no bone, then washing is not required. — OR — I wrote to Abu Muhammad (peace be upon him) that your client Ali ibn Mahziar bequeathed that a pilgrimage be performed on his behalf annually from a land of which a quarter belongs to you for twenty dinars. And that the road to Basra has been cut off, increasing the burden on the people, so twenty dinars is not sufficient. Also, several of your clients bequeathed similarly in their pilgrimages. He wrote back that three pilgrimages count as two pilgrimages, God willing. — OR — Zurarah said: Durays was married to the daughter of Humran. He stipulated that he would neither marry another woman over her nor have intimacy with another woman during her lifetime or after his death. She stipulated that she would not marry anyone else after him. They agreed that from their wealth there would be offerings, pilgrimage, sacrificial animals, and all their wealth would go to the poor if either of them did not fulfill their obligations. Then he came to Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) and mentioned this. He said: The daughter of Humran has rights and nothing should prevent us from telling you the truth: Go, marry, and have intimacy; this obligation is of no significance and it burdens neither you nor her, and what you two did is of no consequence. He then went, had intimacy, and afterward children were born to him. — OR — Regarding a boy who becomes of age and chooses Christianity, and if one of his parents is Christian or both parents are Muslim, he should not be left alone but be beaten to guide him back to Islam.
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