Sharief has a donor kidney: 'Muslims know very little about organ donation'

Sharief wants as many people as possible to know what organ donation entails. He thinks that is important: 'There is too little known about it in our faith community. It is not discussed enough. I want to make people aware that it is important to think about it.'

Not noticed anything

Sharief discovered in 1998 that his kidneys were not functioning properly. He was 31 at the time. 'I had a constant headache. After a long time, it turned out that my kidneys were leaking. As a result, you do not get rid of the waste products in the blood sufficiently, and that gives you a headache. The cause was sky-high blood pressure. Apart from the headache, I hadn't noticed anything.'

Difficult to ask

When his kidneys were only functioning at 11 percent in 2003, he had to go on dialysis to take over the functions of the kidneys and clean the blood. At the same time, Sharief was placed on the waiting list for a donor kidney. 'I didn't ask anyone in my family if they wanted to donate a kidney to me, because I chose what God wanted to happen. And because no one noticed I was sick, I found it difficult to ask for a kidney.'

A few years later, Sharief received a kidney from a deceased donor. 'Things are going well. The kidney functions at 33 percent, but that is enough. I do get tired easily, so I work 20 hours a week. And I exercise every other day.'

Survival more important

Sharief belongs to a faith community within Islam. He talks about their view on death: 'The body is made of earth. After death, the body goes underground and the soul goes to a place where all souls are. On the Day of Judgment, the soul returns to the body. If you have lived a good life, you go to heaven, otherwise you are punished.'

None of this is an obstacle to organ donation, Sharief explains: 'If you can save someone's life with it, that is good. Actually, according to our faith, your body should remain intact, but saving a life takes precedence. Another example is eating pork, which Muslims are not allowed to do. If there is no food left at all, but there is pork, you are allowed to eat it after all. Survival is then more important.'

Talking about it

Sharief's family reacted positively to his donor kidney. It was also well received within the faith community. Still, Sharief says: 'Everyone knows I received a kidney, but I notice people don't like to talk about it. Nor about saying yes or no to being included in the Donor Register. I think that is not because people find it scary, but because they know very little about it. More attention is needed.'

Gatherings in the Mosque

He does have an idea of how that could be done. 'Diabetes is very common among Surinamese Muslims. The mosque organizes gatherings about this. People can even have their blood drawn monthly at the mosque. In this way, the mosque makes visitors aware of the dangers of diabetes. They could also organize gatherings like this about organ donation. People need to know that they can save lives with it. And that the faith is therefore precisely positive about donation, because you save lives with it.'