Is a blood transfusion from an unknown donor acceptable for Muslims?

Yes. Blood from another person does no spiritual harm. The only risk is physical, because diseases can be passed on, and a transfusion often saves lives.

Some Muslims wonder whether blood from a stranger could harm them spiritually. They know that food affects both body and soul, and they fear that with an unknown person’s blood they might take on something of that person’s character.

This worry is unfounded. A simple example shows why. We eat the meat of cattle and chickens. Some cockerels are aggressive, while others are very gentle. Yet whoever eats their meat does not take on the temperament of the individual animal. In the same way, a person’s character is not passed on through their blood.

Some also ask whether it matters if the donor has eaten pork. It does not. Whatever the body has digested becomes its own human blood cells. They are no longer the cells of a pig.

The only real danger is physical. A donor’s blood may have been affected by some disease, and this can be passed on to the recipient. Care is needed here, and that care is a medical task.

Moreover, a transfusion usually saves a life. The second verse above shows that in genuine need even what is otherwise forbidden becomes permitted. If even forbidden things are allowed in order to save a life, then there is all the less objection to receiving another person’s blood to stay alive.