This paper seeks to provide an ethical assessment of kidney sale based on the theories of a contemporary Shiite theologian, Muḥammad Ḥussain Ṭabāṭabā'ī. It aims to offer a mechanism to decide the justifiability or unjustifiability of kidney sale in ethical terms. Ṭabāṭabā'ī considers ''Divine Consent'' as the criterion for the morality of an action. An action meets the "Divine Consent" requirement if it is done with a sincere intention, confirmed by reason and Divine revelations, brings about an internal peace for the agent, and preserves the agent's dignity and autonomy. Given this criterion and through an analytic and qualitative method, this paper aims to evaluate kidney sale in three cases: during one's lifetime, during brain death when the agent has left no will, and during brain death when the agent has left a will. It seems that, based on the theories of Ṭabāṭabā'ī, the above requirements are only met in the first two cases. Thus, kidney sale is morally justifiable in the first two cases but not in the third.
Keywords: Brain death; Divine consent; Ethics; Kidney sale.
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