Vaccines permitted by Sharia: theologians convince the population to get vaccinated
At a conference in Kazan, doctors and Muslim theologians spoke about the importance of vaccines and shared plans for cooperation
“There are vaccines, there are health workers, but there are no people,” chief visiting specialist in epidemiology and preventive immunisation of the Ministry of Health of Tatarstan, head of the Republican Centre for Preventive Immunisation, Honoured Doctor of the Republic of Tatarstan Dmitry Lopushov complained about the population’s mistrust of some types of vaccines. One of the reasons given for refusing vaccines is religious motives. At Vaccination and Halal Standards in Kazan on 30 November, doctors talked about how to increase patients’ commitment to vaccination, and theologians explained why vaccinations are permitted by Sharia. Read more about it in a report of Realnoe Vremya.
Measles and whooping cough back in the republic
In Tatarstan, 7-10% of the population refuses vaccination, Dmitry Lopushov told Realnoe Vremya. This figure changes slightly from year to year. Moreover, it cannot be said that there is a specific vaccination on the patients’ “black list.” “If they refuse, then they refuse everything,” the expert states. The reasons for mistrust of medicine can be very different.
“There are refusals for religious reasons. There are those who refuse simply because of some myths: ‘The vaccine is not purified,’ ‘We have many relatives who got sick,’ ‘We will not do it because we believe that vaccinations are not necessary before the age of one.’ But it is unknown whether the child will live to this age. The same whooping cough is dangerous for him at three months. If a child gets sick at three years old, he will cough, but will not die. But at three months he can die, says the head of the republican Centre for Preventive Immunisation.”
Over the past two years, the incidence of whooping cough in Tatarstan has been growing. It mainly affects children and adolescents. Fortunately, no fatalities have been registered to date. And this is not the only disease that has returned due to the population refusing to vaccinate. In the past three years, measles outbreaks have also been observed in the republic.
“For a long time, it was practically unheard of, and medical students simply could not even look at people with measles. Now it has appeared. Migrants brought measles, and it fell on fertile ground, primarily affecting those who are not vaccinated,” explains Lopushov.
In 2023, 146 cases of measles were registered in Tatarstan, in 10 months of 2024, this figure increased to 278. This year, two cluster outbreaks of the disease were recorded. In Kazan’s School No. 18, 13 people were infected, and in Zelenodolsk District among the Roma there were as many as 48 cases of measles.
“The situation with diphtheria is quite favourable. There are no registered cases of poliomyelitis in Tatarstan, but certain outbreaks are currently observed in Central Asian countries. Considering that we have active migration flows, the risk of importing poliomyelitis is quite high,” the doctor warns.
Vaccines against all these diseases are included in the national calendar of preventive vaccinations, Lopushov emphasised. They can be obtained free of charge at a polyclinic. In addition, in Tatarstan they want to expand the population's access to vaccines by introducing a republican calendar. A corresponding project has already been developed. It is planned that it will include vaccinations against chickenpox, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis A, pneumococcal infection (under the national calendar, it is given only to children), as well as a revaccination vaccine against whooping cough.
What vaccinations are allowed in Islam?
“In no case can a Muslim refuse vaccines for religious reasons. There are no religious reasons. This is simply ignorance, which such people justify with religion,” specialist of the Sharia Department of the Tatarstan Muslim Religious Directorate Akhmad Abu Yahya said at the conference.
According to him, believers should ask doctors what vaccinations to get and when. “According to the principles of Sharia, you need to contact specialists in your field. Allah Almighty Himself says: ‘Ask the possessors of knowledge if you do not know,’” explained the specialist of the Sharia Department of the directorate.
He recalled that during the coronavirus epidemic, Mufti of Tatarstan Hazrat Kamil Samigullin was vaccinated with EpiVac vaccine. The permissibility of vaccination is also supported by the fact that believers need to get a number of vaccinations in order to go on the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca.
What vaccinations are allowed for Muslims? Those that do not contain prohibited components, such as pork products. However, with a complete transformation of the substance (in Sharia, this is called “istikhala”), they become permissible. To understand such subtleties, it may be problematic, so when necessary, Ahmad Abu Yahya recommended contacting the Halal Standard Committee of the directorate.
In case of serious need, for example, during an outbreak of some disease, Muslims can use an unauthorised vaccine:
“Doctors must state that a person needs to be vaccinated, for example, during an epidemic. Then the vaccine can be used, despite the fact that it contains unauthorised components. Preserving life and health is a priority.”
At the conference they promised: soon it will be easier for believers to determine authorized vaccinations. As reported by Director of Collective Immunity Antonina Oblasova, at the end of November the organisation signed a memorandum of cooperation with the committee on the Halal standard of the Tatarstan Muslim Religious Directorate
“Not a single one of our ‘routine’ vaccines has a Halal certificate, manufacturers do not think about it. We want to initiate this work,” says Antonina Oblasova.
According to her, the first thing they plan to do is to consider the permissibility of vaccines included in the national calendar. “I think that at first these will be vaccines with a pertussis component, vaccinations against measles, rubella, mumps, because outbreaks are observed in them,” she concluded.