LEGAL (SHARI’) OPINION ON THE VACCINATION

All Praise be to Allah the almighty and may His Blessings and Peace Be on His Prophet Muhammad.
Following the UK government’s roll-out of the new vaccines to protect against COVID-19, many concerns and questions have been raised in the community as to whether the vaccine is halal or whether it would be allowed for Muslims to take. In response to the many that have contacted us personally to find out about this, we are presenting this written statement based on the information available to us.
– According to the UK Government’s Medicine and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine does not contain any components of animal origin and it has been confirmed by the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA), a representative body of Muslim doctors and health professionals, after consulting with influential Islamic seminaries in the UK.
So this vaccine is halal and permissible for Muslims to take and we encourage everyone to take it in the interest of saving lives.
– Likewise, the UK Government’s Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed that the Oxford Astra-Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine also does not contain any animal-derived components,
however, the vaccine contains 0.002 mg of ethanol per dose, which is very trivial and not enough to impact on anyone. This information has also been confirmed by the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) in consultation with Islamic jurists.

Since the preservation of lives is one of the highest objectives of Shari’a and as it is congruent with the Shari’a and reason, this vaccine would also be permissible to take.
– The above guidelines are applicable only for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine based on its current ingredients and does not necessarily extend to other vaccines.
– The above guidelines have been produced in light of the Qur’an, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence. The decision to take the vaccine is a personal choice and up to each individual to make. However, after considering the theological and scientific pieces of evidence, we urge everyone in the community to follow the doctors’ advice and take the vaccine to save lives without following any baseless propaganda. May Allah the almighty save all of us from COVID-19 pandemic.
Allah the Exalted knows best.

LATIFIAH ULAMA SOCIETY UK
Hafiz Allamah Abdul Jalil (President, Anjumane Al Islah UK)
Maulana Shehab Uddin (President, Latifiah Ulama Society UK)
Maulana Farid Ahmed Chowdhury (Secretary, Latifiah Ulama Society UK)
11 Jamada Al-Thani 1442 AH
24 January 2021