NEW DELHI: In a bid to dispel rumours and doubts about the Covid-19 vaccine among Muslims, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has said that the shots are permissible even if they contain pork gelatine. The New Indian Express spoke to several Muslim scholars about the administration of the vaccine who appealed to Muslims to take the vaccine amid concerns among some about the presence of a prohibited substance in the vaccine, citing the higher need to “protect the human body”.
Muslims consider the consumption of pork products ‘haram’, or forbidden under Islamic law. President of the Jamiat Ulama- e-Hind and Principal of Darul Uloom Deoband Arshad Madani said there is no problem in taking the vaccine for Muslims.
“Whatever saves human lives is permissible. We should take the vaccine and protect ourselves and everybody around us from Covid-19”, Madani said. General Secretary of AISPLB Maulana Yasoob Abbas urged all Muslims to take the vaccine.
“People who are advocating against the use of vaccines are against Islam. Saving human lives is most important in Islam,” he said. Member of AISPLB Kamal Faruqui said, “Islam is not a closed door religion.
"It takes into account what is the requirement of humanity and emergencies too. It is sheer ignorance of the Islamic law on the part of some people who are making statements against the vaccine. This is the time to save humanity and life is of utmost importance in Islam.”
On Saturday, Secretary of Shariah council Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Raziul Islam Nadvi said it is wrong to speculate the content of the vaccines when we do know the reality. “If an impermissible object is transformed into another thing, totally different in properties and characters, may be considered as clean and permissible. On this basis, the use of gelatine derived from the body part of a haram animal has been considered to be permissible by Islamic jurists. Same is the opinion of some jurists about pork Gelatine,” Nadvi said.