DECEMBER 14 — The halal polemics has begun ... yet again!
Race and religious bigots will spin to trigger tension.
Important to stick to the back of basics of Shari’ah (Islamic jurisprudence) & Research ethics
The relationship between Shariah and Fiqh is represented by a tree and its parts.
The roots rep the Shariah & its primary sources of legislation-Qur’an &Traditions of the Prophet (Sunnah)
The trunk and branches rep the tools & methodologies (Usul al- iqh/foundations of Fiqh & Maqasid/Objectives) used by scholars to derive the fruits (fatwas/rulings)
For example,. the primary sources constitute the raw ingredients of a medicine
The methodology & tools are how pharmacists process the raw ingredients into a medicine
The resulting medicine is dispensed by doctors.
The meds may be out of date or cause adverse effects.
It warrants an alternative prescription.
The relevance of a fatwa would dep on its quality, the societal context & its ability to effectively achieve Maqasid Shari’ah-bringing benefit (maslahah) or removing harm (mafsada).
The 2nd Maqasid Shari’ah aka Priorities of Islamic Law is the preservation of life
Global-70 Million cases and 1.6 million deaths
Malaysia-78K cases and 396 deaths
A #Covid19 vaccine is one of the solutions to end the pandemic apart from masking, distancing and hygiene.
A maxim in Islamic law is that in social/human affairs (muamalat) the default rule is “everything is permissible unless proven otherwise.”
In the absence of clear textual evidence to the contrary everything is permissible.
Permissibility (Halal) does not require textual evidence.
Silence in the text means permissible or an opportunity for ijtihad.
To say any intervention is not allowed (Haram) requires textual evidence.
The burden of proof that a medicine/vaccine/custom (mu’amalat) is impermissible falls on those who repudiate it, not on those who affirm it.
Nevertheless, in borderline cases, the law prefers to err on the side of leniency, compassion and mercy.
The issue of the use of impure animal products in medicine was forwarded by the WHO office in 2001 to IOMS (Islamic Organisation of Medical Sciences) based in Kuwait.
It was attended by more tha 100 Muslim religious scholars and medical experts.
The seminar stated:
Transformation (istihalah) is the conversion of a substance into another which is different in characteristics.
It changes substances that are judicially impure or are found in an impure environment into pure substances.
It changes substances that are judicially impure or are found in an impure environment into pure substances.
It changes substances that are prohibited into lawful and permitted substances:
e.g. Gelatine formed as a result of the transformation of the bones, skin & tendons of a judicially impure animal is pure and it is judicially permissible to eat.
e.g. Gelatine in medicines, capsules, vaccines etc
In vaccines gelatine is used as a stabiliser to preserve it’s potency.
Gelatine is hydrolysed (transformed) into a mixture of amino acids which is not specie specific.
* Dr Musa Mohd Nordin is a consultant pediatrician at Damansara Specialist Hospital
** This is the personal opinion of the writer(s) or organisation(s) and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
