As some, Islamic countries like Pakistan and Indonesia are contemplating the use of coronavirus vaccine because it may not be permissible under Sharia as the serum may contain pork, the United Arab Emirates’ highest Islamic authority, the UAE Fatwa Council, has ruled that coronavirus vaccines are permissible for Muslims even if they contain pork gelatin, Khaleej Times reported.
Pork gelatin is a common vaccine ingredient and under Islamic law of Sharia, pork is “0Haram” i.e. un Islamic, hence it is forbidden for Muslims. It is necessary under Islamic law that a product is Halal certified.
However, the UAE Fatwa Council, under the chairmanship of Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, issued a ‘fatwa’ (Islamic ruling) which now states that one of the important compliance with Islamic Sharia’ is the protection of the human body.
In Islam, under adverse condition like famine, and the only food available to eat is pork then the pork becomes halal and they may eat it.
will allow the coronavirus vaccines to be used in compliance with Islamic Sharia’s objectives on the protection of the human body and other relevant Islamic rulings.
“Coronavirus vaccination is classified under preventive medicines for individuals, as recommended by the Islamic faith, particularly in times of pandemic diseases when the healthy happen to be prone to infections due to the high risk of contracting the disease, therefore posing risk to the entire society,” the Council explained.
The Fatwa Council was quite specific with its ruling to ensure there is no doubt in the minds of Muslims when it said, though the vaccine contains non-halal ingredients banned by Islam, it’s permissible to use it in implementation of the Islamic rule that permits the use of such products in case there are no alternatives
The fatwa council said as per Islamic jurisprudence, the pork gelatin is considered medicine, not food, with multiple vaccines already shown to be effective against a highly contagious virus that poses a risk to the entire society.