Pork gelatin in flu vaccination
Question:
Dear Sir , Asalam-o-Alikum,
We have been contacted by our children school who are offering a Flu vaccination to children which contains Pigs gelatine (in the form of nasal spray). They claim that this is the only form of vaccination available and they want parent to give consent that they have no objection over it ! We need to know if it is permissible or not ?
JazakAllah
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
The issue with pork gelatine that causes disagreements among scholars is whether it has gone through istihala or not. Istihala refers to the process in which a substance changes to a totally different substance in a way that it cannot be recognised to be the original substance. Some scholars consider istihala to apply to gelatine and therefore allow it, others do not consider istihala happening in the process of making gelatine and so consider it haram. This is while there are those, like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, who stand in between and recommend remaining cautious and therefore advise that it is better not to consume pork gelatine.
I consider gelatin to be allowable. This is for two reasons:
1. In my view the istihala’s definition is not limited to a chemical process (as it is often defined this way). I do not think that we should have scientific approach to these issues. Rather, in my understanding, God only expects us to have common sense, layman, approach. As I wrote in answering another question:
'If scientifically no chemical procedure has taken place, still, based on Urf (common perception), an originally Haram substance can become consumable if it is significantly changed in nature to the extent that in common perception, it cannot be called the same thing. As Ibn Hazm writes: "Ruling upon an object is upon what it is named, if the name (what it is) changes then so does the ruling."
I have read about and have seen videos of the industrial process of making gelatin and to me istihala definitely takes place. In my layman industrial view, I do not see the final product to be anything close to pork. Please check this video as an example.
The above observation and judgement is of course a personal one, however you may be interested to know that in 1995 a seminar was held by the Islamic Organisation for Medical Sciences in Kuwait titled ‘The Judicially Prohibited and Impure Substances in Foodstuff and Drugs’. One hundred and twelve jurists and experts attended this conference, including well known scholars like Dr. Tantawi, Sheikh al-Khalili, Dr. Yusuf Qaradawi, Sheikh Dr. Hamed Game’e and Dr. Wahba al-Zohayli. One of the conclusions of the seminar was that Gelatin goes through the process of istihala and is therefore pure. You can find the report here.
2. There is a concept in Islamic fiqh, referred to as Umum al-Balwa (عموم البلوی). This refers to situations where something that may be in principle disallowed in our understanding of religious rule (fiqh) will exceptionally become allowed due to the difficulty in avoiding it in the day to day life. This of course does not include those items that are clearly disallowed in Shari’ah. Our scholars have very rightly derived this principle from the general spirit of Islamic law that where possible have always been inclined towards easiness and avoiding difficulty. In my understanding this definitely applies to pork gelatine for Muslims living in Non-Muslim countries. As it stands, many of the common consumables are made by pork gelatin. Three points remain:
- The basis of both my reasoning above is quite subjective and depends on personal view. This is due to the nature of the topic in hand. Obviously if one is not convinced by the above two reasons then one needs to avoid consuming pork gelatin.
- The above is about pork gelatin in food. If one requires to take irreplaceable medicine containing anything (halal or haram) one should take it disregard, this is what almost all scholars agree on and is based on explicit verse of the Qur’an (2:173).
- The above is in terms of law. However when it comes to practice individuals may have their own preferences, while appreciating the law. For instance, if I find that in the ingredient of a food pork gelatin is mentioned, while I am convinced that it is allowed, I refrain from eating it. This is simply my personal preference.
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September 2015
Dear Sir , Asalam-o-Alikum,
We have been contacted by our children school who are offering a Flu vaccination to children which contains Pigs gelatine (in the form of nasal spray). They claim that this is the only form of vaccination available and they want parent to give consent that they have no objection over it ! We need to know if it is permissible or not ?
JazakAllah
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
The issue with pork gelatine that causes disagreements among scholars is whether it has gone through istihala or not. Istihala refers to the process in which a substance changes to a totally different substance in a way that it cannot be recognised to be the original substance. Some scholars consider istihala to apply to gelatine and therefore allow it, others do not consider istihala happening in the process of making gelatine and so consider it haram. This is while there are those, like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, who stand in between and recommend remaining cautious and therefore advise that it is better not to consume pork gelatine.
I consider gelatin to be allowable. This is for two reasons:
1. In my view the istihala’s definition is not limited to a chemical process (as it is often defined this way). I do not think that we should have scientific approach to these issues. Rather, in my understanding, God only expects us to have common sense, layman, approach. As I wrote in answering another question:
'If scientifically no chemical procedure has taken place, still, based on Urf (common perception), an originally Haram substance can become consumable if it is significantly changed in nature to the extent that in common perception, it cannot be called the same thing. As Ibn Hazm writes: "Ruling upon an object is upon what it is named, if the name (what it is) changes then so does the ruling."
I have read about and have seen videos of the industrial process of making gelatin and to me istihala definitely takes place. In my layman industrial view, I do not see the final product to be anything close to pork. Please check this video as an example.
The above observation and judgement is of course a personal one, however you may be interested to know that in 1995 a seminar was held by the Islamic Organisation for Medical Sciences in Kuwait titled ‘The Judicially Prohibited and Impure Substances in Foodstuff and Drugs’. One hundred and twelve jurists and experts attended this conference, including well known scholars like Dr. Tantawi, Sheikh al-Khalili, Dr. Yusuf Qaradawi, Sheikh Dr. Hamed Game’e and Dr. Wahba al-Zohayli. One of the conclusions of the seminar was that Gelatin goes through the process of istihala and is therefore pure. You can find the report here.
2. There is a concept in Islamic fiqh, referred to as Umum al-Balwa (عموم البلوی). This refers to situations where something that may be in principle disallowed in our understanding of religious rule (fiqh) will exceptionally become allowed due to the difficulty in avoiding it in the day to day life. This of course does not include those items that are clearly disallowed in Shari’ah. Our scholars have very rightly derived this principle from the general spirit of Islamic law that where possible have always been inclined towards easiness and avoiding difficulty. In my understanding this definitely applies to pork gelatine for Muslims living in Non-Muslim countries. As it stands, many of the common consumables are made by pork gelatin. Three points remain:
- The basis of both my reasoning above is quite subjective and depends on personal view. This is due to the nature of the topic in hand. Obviously if one is not convinced by the above two reasons then one needs to avoid consuming pork gelatin.
- The above is about pork gelatin in food. If one requires to take irreplaceable medicine containing anything (halal or haram) one should take it disregard, this is what almost all scholars agree on and is based on explicit verse of the Qur’an (2:173).
- The above is in terms of law. However when it comes to practice individuals may have their own preferences, while appreciating the law. For instance, if I find that in the ingredient of a food pork gelatin is mentioned, while I am convinced that it is allowed, I refrain from eating it. This is simply my personal preference.
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September 2015