The UAE Fatwa Council, under the chairmanship of Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, has issued a ‘fatwa’ (Islamic ruling) allowing the coronavirus vaccines to be used in compliance with Islamic Sharia’s objectives on the protection of the human body and other relevant Islamic rulings.
This comes in response to growing concerns among Muslims over the halal status of the Covid vaccines and following a request for an advisory opinion addressed by the Minister of Religious Affairs of Malaysia, to the UAE Fatwa Council on the same subject.
“Coronavirus vaccination is classified under preventive medicines for individuals, as recommended by the Islamic faith, particularly in times of pandemic diseases when the healthy happen to be prone to infections due to the high risk of contracting the disease, therefore posing risk to the entire society,” the Council explained.
The Fatwa Council added that even if the vaccine in question contains non-halal ingredients banned by Islam, it’s permissible to use it in implementation of the Islamic rule that permits the use of such products in case there are no alternatives.
The council cited the highly contagious nature of the disease as a justification to use the vaccines owning to the dire consequences the pandemic has inflicted in terms of fatal physical and material damage.
The council added that concerned medical authorities and other competent experts are authorised to assess the side effects of the vaccine, calling upon all to cooperate with their respective governments to ensure the success of vaccination campaigns and respect for the preventive and precautionary measures taken in this regard.
ABU DHABI, 19th April 2020 (WAM) – The Emirates Fatwa Council held a remote meeting on Sunday to discuss latest updates related to coronavirus, COVID-19, from Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence perspectives.
The Council members opened their meeting with a call to utilise the holy month of Ramadan to thank Allah (SWT) for all his blessings. They also praised the UAE’s wise leadership for sparing no efforts to provide medical screening and treatment to all citizens and residents.
The Council issued five Fatwas on fasting in this year’s Ramadan, in the shadow of COVID-19. According to the Council, fasting is obligatory upon healthy people who are required to fast. It also ruled that COVID-19 patients may not fast when the virus symptoms appear and if they were told by the physicians that fasting will make their condition worse.
According to the Council, the frontline medical workers are also permitted not to fast while on duty if they fear that fasting could lead to weakening their immunity or to losing their patients.
On Taraweeh prayer and whether it could be performed outside the mosque premises or by following radio, TV or social media, the Council ruled that under the current situation, it could be performed individually at home. However, the man of the house may lead the prayer for his family either by reciting verses he memorised or by reading from the holy book.
The third Fatwa focussed on Eid Al Fitr prayer should the current situation continue until that time. It ruled that people may perform Eid Al Fitr prayer individually at their homes or in group with their respective family members without a sermon. It warned against congregating to perform the prayer, saying this could endanger lives, an act that is strictly forbidden in Islam.
In the fourth Fatwa, the Council asserted that performing Friday prayer is not permissible. Instead, one should perform Dhuhr prayer because Friday prayer has its own congregational requirements and if such requirements are not met due to some obstacles, then it is no longer valid. The Council also warned against unusual practices and reminded that it is obligatory to follow the authorities’ instructions to avoid gatherings and to stop Friday prayer as a precautionary measure against communicable disease risks which increase with mass gatherings.
On Zakat and Zakat Al Fitr, the Council said it is permitted to pay Zakat earlier, adding that it is even better to pay it as quickly as possible, given the current circumstances. It cited an example when Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) allowed his uncle Al Abbas to pay his Zakat earlier than the due time to help the beneficiaries meet their needs. Likewise, Zakat Al Firt can also be paid earlier at the beginning of Ramadan, according to a number of scholars.
The Council pointed out that all types of Zakat are better spent within the country to help the beneficiaries meet their needs. They could also be paid to relevant authorities or charitable organisations that operate in collecting Zakat funds ad delivering them to the beneficiaries, like the Zakat Fund. If a surplus remained, then the funds could be sent to other needy Muslims through official channles like the Emirates Red Crescent and other licensed charitable organisations.
At the end of the meeting, the Council members called upon Muslims to utilise the holy month of Ramadan in pious worship and helping the needy people. They prayed to Allah to continue blessing the UAE and grant it success and continued health and care to its leadership and people and to save the whole world from the pandemic.WAM/Hassan Bashir
Dear Shaykh,
In some countries the days are very long, sometimes longer than 20 hours [between fajr and maghrib]. What is the ruling on fasting during these days? What is one to do if such a fast affects one’s ability to work, and is burdensome or unbearable?
Answer:
If the day is very long but still has a clear daytime and a clear night [i.e., true night, with the disappearance of shafaq, or twilight glow, from the horizon], then there is no sharia text indicating the permissibility of breaking fast; rather, the legally capable and obliged person must remain fasting.
However, if true burden afflicts him, it is permissible to break the fast and make up his fast on another day, similar to agreed upon difficulties such as travel and illness.
This is what the Hanafis said in the case of extreme hunger and thirst, and likewise what the later Malikis held with regard to those engaged in difficult work which is indispensable [to their livelihood and/or that of others] and which they must definitely attend to. Examples such as shepherds or those those who dig wells are commonly given in the books of fiqh.
The indication of fasting, legally speaking, is the night and the day, so they must be considered.
On the whole, the issue of fasting during a long day is an individual matter and not a matter of society because it is linked to hardship [on a personal basis]. Thus whomever deems it possible for himself to fast then he must fast; whereas he who suffers from hardship begins the day fasting and only breaks his fast if and when the hardship becomes moderate to severe according to his assessment and ability (such as the inability of a worker to complete his work, for example). He is then liable to make up any fasts which he has broken (‘alayhi al-qada’).
Then, at that time, it is permissible for them to break the fast based on this hardship, and not on the basis of the length of the day.
Is it permissible to give Zakat al-Fitr in the form of money?
The ruling on paying zakat al-fitr in cash is a matter in which the scholars have differed, with the majority opinion holding that it should be given out as food or similar nourishments according to details that differ in relation to those categories.
In the West, money may be more suitable for the poor. This is the view of Abu Hanifa as well as that of the Malikis as narrated by ‘Issa bin Dinar, and God knows best.
