Leaving a Will: Donating One’s Body for Medical Dissection in a Will

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Leaving a Will: Donating One’s Body for Medical Dissection in a Will

English:

Question #1825:

Is it permissible for someone to make a provision in his will that, after his death, his body is to be put at the disposal of medical students for dissection or is it ḥarām to do so as it amounts to muthlah?

Answer #1825:

It seems that the religious sources indicating prohibition of muthlah or the like are dealing with some other affairs and do not include dissection of the deceased’s body in which an important interest lies. Apparently, there is no objection to dissection on the provision of observing respect for the Muslim deceased’s body, which serves as an axiom in this type of issues.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Leaving a Will