“DOES THE COVID-19 VACCINE

CONTAINS PIG GELATINES?”

NAME: HARITH AKMAL BIN AHMAD MUHAMAD AMIR

CLASS: CE2/AP
LECTURER: SIR RIDHAUDDIN
DATE: 2/12/2020
 1. Introduction (Meaning of vaccine)
In early January of the year 2020, the world is faced with an outbreak which causes
the world to panic1. The outbreak is caused by a virus called “Coronavirus” also
known as “The Corona virus “or “Covid-19”. In November, a pair of scientists which
is Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci which is a Turkish-German couple with the funding
of the company BioNTech’s, and Pfizer discovered a vaccine for the outbreak 2. This
is a breakthrough since the vaccine will help millions of people from contracting the
disease. Definition for vaccine is a substance that helps protect against certain
diseases. Vaccines contain a dead or weakened version of a microbe. It helps your
immune system recognize and destroy the living microbe during a future infection 3.
However, there are rumours stating that the vaccine contains pig gelatine. With this
rumour circulating around Muslim countries, there are doubts rising about taking the
vaccine because pork or pig is prohibited in Islam. Definition of gelatine is a clear
substance made from animal bones and used specially to make jelly 4.

1
https://www.who.int/news/item/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19
2
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/10/europe/biontech-pfizer-vaccine-team-couple-intl/index.html
3
https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/qa/what-is-the-definition-of-vaccine
4
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gelatine
 Figure 1 shows an example of gelatine

Figure 2 shows bottles of Covid-19 vaccines

 2. The reason why the rumour rises

The reason why the pig gelatine rumour rises suddenly in the Islamic community to
store the vaccine safely, gelatine is added to the vaccine acting as a stabilizer for the
vaccine. It stabilizes vaccines so that they remain effective after manufacture. All
gelatine contained in vaccines is porcine in origin 5. But most gelatine are extracted
from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as domesticated cattle,
chicken, pigs, and fish. However, the usage of porcine gelatine in vaccine is a must if
there are no other alternatives in keeping the vaccine stabilize after manufactured.

5
https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-
ingredients/gelatin#:~:text=Gelatin%20is%20used%20to%20stabilize,vaccines%20is%20porcine%20in%20or
 3. Islamic perspective of the pig gelatine in vaccines
There are a lot of opinion and views about the status of the Covid-19 vaccine. Is the
vaccine considered Halal or Haram in Islam?

Firstly, based on a newsletter , The Malaysian Islamic Development Department

(Jakim) will assist the Health Ministry to formulate a policy pertaining to vaccinations
for children from the 'fatwa' perspective, whether it should be made compulsory or
otherwise. Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh said at
the same time, Jakim would help explain it to the public as some parents viewed
vaccines to contain non-halal elements. “We recognise their rights as parents but
when we look at the bigger picture, when the children (are not vaccinated) they may
not be protected from some diseases and can spread it to others,” she said. As a
responsible government, she said, the benefits of the ummah should always be
considered while respecting the parents’ stand pertaining to their children’s well-
being. “Hence, the issue of vaccinations should be viewed from various aspects
including 'fatwa', human rights and so on, that can be incorporated into a policy for
the benefit of the majority of the population,” she said 6.

Secondly, based on an answer given by a senior lecturer in Management Science

and Service Operations (Management) in University of Glasgow named Dr Farhad
Shafti, he said that the issue with pork gelatine that causes disagreements among
scholars is whether it has gone through istihala or not. Istihala refers to the process
in which a substance changes to a totally different substance in a way that it cannot
be recognised to be the original substance. Some scholars consider istihala to apply
to gelatine and therefore allow it, others do not consider istihala happening in the
process of making gelatine and so consider it haram. This is while there are those,
like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, who stand in between and recommend remaining
cautious and therefore advise that it is better not to consume pork gelatine 7.

6
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/465384/jakim-help-clarify-vaccinations-islamic-perspective
7
https://www.exploring-islam.com/pork-gelatin-in-flu-vaccination.html
In my view the istihala’s definition is not limited to a chemical process (as it is often
defined this way). I do not think that we should have scientific approach to these
issues. Rather, in my understanding, God only expects us to have common sense,
layman, approach. As I wrote in answering another question: ‘If scientifically no
chemical procedure has taken place, still, based on Urf (common perception), an
originally Haram substance can become consumable if it is significantly changed in
nature to the extent that in common perception, it cannot be called the same thing.
As Ibn Hazm writes: "Ruling upon an object is upon what it is named, if the name
(what it is) changes then so does the ruling. “I have read about and have seen
videos of the industrial process of making gelatine and to me istihala definitely takes
place. In my layman industrial view, I do not see the final product to be anything
close to pork8.

The above observation and judgement is of course a personal one, however you
may be interested to know that in 1995 a seminar was held by the Islamic
Organisation for Medical Sciences in Kuwait titled ‘The Judicially Prohibited and
Impure Substances in Foodstuff and Drugs’. One hundred and twelve jurists and
experts attended this conference, including well known scholars like Dr. Tantawi,
Sheikh al-Khalili, Dr. Yusuf Qaradawi, Sheikh Dr. Hamed Game’e and Dr. Wahba al-
Zohayli. One of the conclusions of the seminar was that Gelatine goes through the
process of istihala and is therefore pure.9

There is a concept in Islamic fiqh, referred to as Umum al-Balwa (‫)عموم البلوی‬. This
refers to situations where something that may be in principle disallowed in our
8
https://www.exploring-islam.com/pork-gelatin-in-flu-vaccination.html
9
https://www.exploring-islam.com/pork-gelatin-in-flu-vaccination.html
understanding of religious rule (fiqh) will exceptionally become allowed due to the
difficulty in avoiding it in the day to day life. This of course does not include those
items that are clearly disallowed in Shari’ah. Our scholars have very rightly derived
this principle from the general spirit of Islamic law that where possible have always
been inclined towards easiness and avoiding difficulty. In my understanding this
applies to pork gelatine for Muslims living in Non-Muslim countries. 10

Thirdly, based on a Fatwa’ debate report stated that majority of Islamic jurist, any
component of pigs is unclean and haram for human consumption. Pork proscription
in verse 145 of surah al-An'am means it includes an overall prohibition of pig
component. Allah SWT said: “Say (O Muhammad): "I don’t find in what has been
revealed to me, anything prohibited for an man to eat except if it is a carcass, or
oozing blood, or pork, - for it is full of filth. Or anything that is wrongly done (fasiq),
that is the animals are slaughtered in the name of other than Allah.’ Then whoever is
compelled (consuming it out of emergency), while he was not intending and not
transgressing, then Allah is All-forgiving, merciful.” (Surah al-An’am, 6:145). Based
on the verse above, if a pig component had to be used in 'darurah' situations
(emergency), only then it is allowed to be consumed (Ibn Hazm, 2001; Ibn Juzai,
1998; Ibn Nujaym, n.d.; al-Kasani, 2000; alQalyubi & ‘Umyrah, 1997; Hammad,
2004). However, there are non-popular opinion stating that the forbidden by Allah is
just eating pork. While for other uses besides pork, are not included in the
proscription. Therefore, uses of other than pork is conditionally allowable such as
pigs’ tanned hide is clean, pigs’ hair can be used. Among the scholars who share the
same opinion are Daud al-Zohiri (al-Rahibani, 1994) and Ibn ‘Asyur (1984) 11.
Therefore, the presence of any prohibited substances in the vaccine, the vaccine will
be declared Haram.

10
https://www.exploring-islam.com/pork-gelatin-in-flu-vaccination.html
11
http://www.jcreview.com/fulltext/197-1590056837.pdf?1591086879
 4. The truth about the Covid-19 vaccine
Despite of all rumours, the Malaysian government declared that vaccine in used by
the Malaysia Health Organisation only contains gelatine from bovine sources 12.
Definition for bovine relates to animals from the cattle group such as cows.
Therefore, the vaccines used in Malaysia is Halal. However, the Covid-19 vaccine is
not yet considered Halal. Based on a newsletter, the Muslim community stated that it
their right to have a Halal version of the Covid-19 vaccine but have been
suppressed by the non-Muslim community stating that they need the vaccine now for
efficacy and safety. So, in order to counter this, differ opinion, on Oct 7, Halal
Development Corporation (HDC) chief executive officer Hairol Ariffein Sahari, said
standards to certify halal vaccines, including for Covid-19, will be available by early
next year. It was reported that HDC was working closely with the Malaysian
Standards Department and the Malaysian Islamic Development Department to
develop the standards, while initiating research and development measures with
several companies produce these vaccines. Since the Covid-19 vaccine will only be
available the first quarter next year stated by Science, Technology, and Innovation
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

12
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/07/27/vaccines-free-of-pork-gelatine-specialist-stabiliser-
used-for-mmr-from-bovine-source/
 5. Conclusion
In conclusion, the Covid-19 vaccine may or may not have pig gelatine as a stabilizer.
However, the Fatwa stated that the usage any prohibited substances in any product
will be Haram in case there is other alternatives and not critical at the time being.
Based on the Malaysia current situation, cases are rising quickly, and this may cause
lots of death. In my opinion if the Malaysian government cannot contain the virus
anyway, the usage of the Covid-19 vaccine needed to be implemented quickly and
efficiently to bring order to any chaos.
 6. References

References
Abdullah, A. B. (2020, December 1). Fulfilling Muslim needs on Covid-19 vaccines.
Retrieved from
https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2020/12/645687/fulfilling-muslim-
needs-covid-19-vaccines
Bernama. (2019, December 2). Jakim to help clarify vaccinations from Islamic
perspective. Retrieved from NST website:
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/465384/jakim-help-clarify-
vaccinations-islamic-perspective
Cambridge Dictionary. (2020). Definition of gelatine. Retrieved from Cambridge
Dictionary website: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gelatine
Cambridge Dictionary. (2020). Meaning of Bovine in English. Retrieved from
Cambridge Dictionary Website:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bovine
FONG, L. F. (2016, JULY 27). Vaccines free of pork gelatine. Retrieved from NST
Star website: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/07/27/vaccines-
free-of-pork-gelatine-specialist-stabiliser-used-for-mmr-from-bovine-source/
Kara Fox, F. P. (2020, November 10). The scientists who developed the
Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are a Turkish-German power couple.
Retrieved from CNN.com:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/10/europe/biontech-pfizer-vaccine-team-
couple-intl/index.html
Pzifer. (2020, November 9). PFIZER AND BIONTECH ANNOUNCE VACCINE
CANDIDATE AGAINST COVID-19 ACHIEVED SUCCESS IN FIRST
INTERIM ANALYSIS FROM PHASE 3 STUDY. Retrieved from Pzifer.com:
https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-
biontech-announce-vaccine-candidate-against
Rosman, A. S. (2020). FATWA DEBATE ON PORCINE DERIVATIVES IN VACCINE
FROM THE CONCEPT OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL
TRANSFORMATION (ISTIHALAH) IN ISLAMIC JURIPENDENCE AND
SCIENES. Multidiscplinary Journal, 9.
Shafti, F. (2015, September). Pork gelatin in flu vaccination. Retrieved from exploring
islam.com: https://www.exploring-islam.com/pork-gelatin-in-flu-
vaccination.html
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (2020). Vaccine Ingredients – Gelatin.
Retrieved from .chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-
center/vaccine-ingredients/gelatin#:~:text=Gelatin%20is%20used%20to
%20stabilize,vaccines%20is%20porcine%20in%20
WEBMD. (2020). Definition of vaccine. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-
flu/qa/what-is-the-definition-of-vaccine