In light of the global context, safety must surely take precedence over everything else. And it appears that the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) recognises the notion, as it has encouraged the use of vaccinations…

Despite the possible presence of “impure or prohibited substances” for treatment.

Muis Says COVID-19 Vaccine Permissible for Muslim Use & Encourages Muslims to be Vaccinated

Muis has unveiled its stance on the upcoming Covid-19 vaccines – which are expected to roll out in Singapore very, very soon.

Apparently, it “holds the position that a Covid-19 vaccine is permissible for Muslim use”.

The declaration was made yesterday (13 December 2020) via a media release, amidst worries that the vaccinations may contain certain “prohibited” substances.

“We would advise and encourage Muslims to be vaccinated once it is available and when the vaccine has been medically authorised as safe and effective, as this is a basic necessity to protect lives in the context of a global pandemic,” said Muis.

Aligned To Established Principles And Values

Muis stated that the intention of creating a Covid-19 vaccine, and the developing process, are “largely aligned to established Islamic principles and values”.

Islamic jurisprudence, it said, greatly values the safety of human life and the protection of livelihoods.

As such, attempts to safeguard humanity, such as the vaccines, are actually encouraged in Islam.

Religious view of the Covid-19 vaccine “must take a more holistic stance that transcends the narrow issue of halalness or permissibility of its ingredients,” it said.x

Apparently, three aspects of the vaccination process have been considered.

First, the vaccine is considered as a “critical necessity” to salvage lives.

As such, it is an “important means to uphold the principles of the sanctity of human life and the avoidance of harm”, as it safeguards society from the pandemic, said Muis.

Secondly, “any Covid-19 vaccine must have no known adverse medical effects and have been scientifically established as not expected to cause harm to those who take the vaccine,” said Muis.

In this case, it aligns with Islamic jurisprudence – where avoidance of harm is a necessary principle.

Third, it appears that Muis has taken the ingredients used in vaccines into account.

Though certain substances may be questionable, the council stated that there have been situations that warranted the use of such prohibited items.

In addition, they said, the developing process would have likely voided the impurity of the original substance.

“In addition to this, the impure substances or prohibited items used in upstream processes would have undergone multiple layers of chemical processes such as filtration that would render them undetectable or negligible in the final product,” said Muis.

Some instances include the drug heparin, which utilises enzymes from pigs, and the rotavirus vaccine that uses trypsin.

“In Muslim jurisprudence, these processes are similar to ‘istihala’ where the original substance changes its form and nature and no longer becomes prohibited,” said Muis.

“In such situations, the final product (drug or vaccine) is deemed permissible for Muslim use.”

It should be noted that in some instances, vaccines can be fully synthetic as well.

This means that they do not contain any animal components or cells.

Different Ball Game

Muis also expressed that it was “inappropriate” to institute the same directives of food consumption on vaccines, as they may create different responses in body systems.

In addition, “medicine and vaccines are usually much more limited and take much longer to be discovered, manufactured and disseminated, due to the complex and stringent processes involved in researching and producing them for safe use.”

“Accordingly, the process to determine if a vaccine is halal on the basis that all its ingredients are halal, based on the criteria applied on food consumption alone, is inadequate and can be misleading,” said the council.

“New methods of assessing therapeutics and vaccines should be required where the important distinctions and differences are carefully considered and taken into account.”

And since the present vaccines appear to adhere to all the aforementioned considerations, Muis has ruled a pretty clear consensus on this one.

“As such, we hold the position that a Covid-19 vaccine is permissible for Muslim use,” it said.

However, it did state that if vaccines ever diverge in the future, the council may have to rectify its stance.

“The Fatwa Committee will review and assess suitability of vaccines for Muslim use if they fundamentally diverge from the principles above.”

Welcomed Notion

Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, has since lauded Muis’ decision, and thanked the council leaders for adjusting their values to the global context.

Mr Masagos added: “I am thankful to our religious leaders who are highly knowledgeable, progressive, enlightened, and attuned to the concerns of our Malay/Muslim community in the context of the global pandemic.

“This is possible because of the strong partnership our asatizah and religious leadership have with medical professionals” as well as the Ministry of Health and Health Sciences Authority.

“I strongly encourage Muslims to be vaccinated once the vaccines are available in Singapore,” he said.

Now, the next question is…when would it be available?

Featured Image: angellodeco / Shutterstock.com