By: Aneeqa du Plessis
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) Fatwa Committee has declared the latest measles vaccine permissible. This comes after an infographic doing the rounds on social media was published by the Jamiatul Ulama KZN claiming otherwise. The confusion stems as an ingredient included in the vaccine ‘porcine gelatin’ contains pork. According to the MJC Fatwa Committee, the ingredient undergoes a metamorphic process which expels all traces of pig. Citing a previous fatwa published in 2017 by the late Mufti Tahaa Karan (Rahmatullah Alaih), the need to preserve life and health outweighs the obligation to abstain from consuming haram in Sharīʿah.
“In curbing the spread of the Measles outbreak, the MJC Fatwa Department thus regards measles vaccines containing porcine gelatine as permissible. However, we strongly recommend that if an alternative option that does not contain porcine gelatine is readily available and affordable, it should be opted for,” read the latest statement by the MJC Fatwa Department.
The call for vaccinations comes as the National Insitute for Communicable Disease (NICD) has reported a measles outbreak in the Cape Metro.
Speaking on VOC’s Breakfast show on Thursday morning, Chief Operating Officer at the Western Cape Health Department, Dr Saadiq Karriem explained the latest statistics.
“We now have an outbreak in the Cape Metropole area because the World Health Organization (WHO) deems an outbreak as two or more lab confirmed cases and technically, we have met the definition for an outbreak. Although the numbers are small, we are continuing with our vaccination campaign and to date we have already administered 168 000 shots to children since early February,” stated Karriem.
VOC
WhatsApp us 
