The halal polemics has begun … yet again! Race and religiou…

The roots rep the Shari’ah & its primary sources of legislation-Qur’an &Traditions of the Prophet (Sunnah)
The trunk and branches rep the tools & methodologies (Usul al- Fiqh/foundations of Fiqh & Maqasid/Objectives) used by scholars to derive the fruits (fatwas/rulings)

For e.g. 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The meds may be out of date or cause adverse effects.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 & 1.6 million deaths
M’sia-78K cases & 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 > 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 stabilizer to preserve it’s potency.
Gelatine is hydrolysed (transformed) into a mixture of amino acids which is not specie specific.