A new Islamic ruling in Singapore will assume that all Muslims are willing organ donors unless they choose to opt out, Singapore's Muslim authority said.

Under Singapore's laws, hospitals can remove the kidneys, liver, heart and corneas of all non-Muslim citizens or permanent residents when they die, unless they have registered to opt out.

Muslims can choose to donate their organs, but are exempted for religious reasons. Many Muslims believe that the dead should be buried with their organs intact.

"It's the first religious ruling that will allow Muslims to be included under the Human Organ Transplant Act," said Nazirudin Mohd Nasir, head of the office of the Mufti at Singapore's Islamic Religious Council.

Singapore's Straits Times newspaper said Muslims make up 21 percent of the 600 patients in Singapore who are waiting for an organ transplant, but account for only 2 percent of patients who actually receive a new organ.

Only 16,000 Muslims in Singapore -- out of 300,000 who are eligible for organ donation -- have chosen to donate their organs, the Straits Times reported.

A Singapore hospital sparked a public outcry in February this year after it switched off the life-support of a man who was declared brain-dead by doctors, defying pleas from his family, so that his organs could be removed and donated. - Reuters