Short answer
Yes. A blood transfusion is allowed when doctors judge it necessary for life or health and there is no adequate alternative. Hanafi scholars allow it on the rule that necessity permits treatment with what is otherwise forbidden, and the four schools agree. Blood from a non-Muslim is fine, and a transfusion does not make donor and recipient mahram.
Receiving blood is permitted when a qualified doctor says it is needed, by necessity, and many Hanafi muftis also allow it where it is needed for recovery even if not immediately life-saving. It creates no mahram relationship and no rights of kinship.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Blood is impure and forbidden to consume (2:173), and the same verse lifts the sin from one forced by necessity. Mufti Muhammad Shafi, whose ruling most Deobandi muftis follow, allowed transfusion on this basis: blood is taken without cutting the body, the donor's body replaces it, and the patient's life or health depends on it.
The conditions muftis give:
- a qualified doctor judges it necessary, for example after blood loss, surgery or childbirth, or for anaemia and cancer treatment
- no equally effective alternative is available
- the blood is given, not sold; paying a hospital's costs is a different matter
Common questions:
- Non-Muslim donors. Allowed. Blood carries no religion, and hospital supplies are not sorted by faith.
- Mahram. A transfusion is not like breastfeeding, so it creates no mahram relationship and no bar to marriage between donor and recipient.
- Plasma and platelets. The same ruling applies.
Medical consent is your decision with your doctor. For giving blood, see is it haram to donate blood.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:173
إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿١٧٣﴾
He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Necessity permits what is otherwise forbidden, including blood for treatment.
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:32
مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنَّهُۥ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًۢا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍۢ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًۭا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَآ أَحْيَا ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًۭا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ ﴿٣٢﴾
Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.
Saving a life through a transfusion is a great good.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5678
Sahih... ما أنزل الله داء إلا أنزل له شفاء ...
"Allah has not sent down any disease without sending down a cure for it."
Seeking treatment, including transfusion, is encouraged.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Jawahir al-Fiqh (Mufti Muhammad Shafi), Treatise on human organ transplantation and blood transfusion. Permits transfusion in need and explains why blood differs from organs.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, discussion of treatment with impure and forbidden things. Treatment with a forbidden substance is allowed when needed and no alternative exists.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.