The vaccination process has started in Saudi Arabia with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, receiving the first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine. Interestingly, more than 500,000 people have already signed up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia since its launch last Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.
#WATCH: #Saudi ArabiaCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives his first dose of # COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. Read more here: https://t.co/wWANuP3Ks5 pic.twitter.com/AteUMxa9ul
– Arab News (@arabnews) December 25, 2020
While Saudi Arabia has prepared to vaccinate its population, the battle with the Muslim world to ensure that they are vaccinated will be long and arduous. Several Muslim organizations have spoken openly about boycotting vaccination and raising questions about whether the vaccine would be made with ‘Halal’ ingredients.
We had previously reported how Indonesia’s highest Muslim body is expected to issue a halal certificate for the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by China-based Sinovac Biotech. The Indonesian Ulema Council Halal Products Assurance Agency and the Institute for Food, Drug and Cosmetic Evaluation had completed their study and a fatwa and halal certification is expected soon, the Minister of Human Development and Culture told the media, Muhadjir Effendy.
Recently, Sunni Muslim scholars from Raza Academy, Mumbai, and All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama issued a fatwa against the Chinese vaccine containing pork gelatin. Saeed Noorie, secretary general of the Raza Academy, said in a statement that the Indian government should not order a Chinese vaccine that allegedly contains pork gelatin. He said: “For any vaccine that has been ordered or manufactured in India, the government should show us the list of content so that we can make announcements about the use of the vaccine.”
Furthermore, as India prepares for the coronavirus vaccination campaign, the debate over the alleged use of pork in COVID-19 vaccines has intensified among various Muslim academics and organizations. Maulana Noor-ur Rehman Barkati, the Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Masjid in Kolkata, West Bengal, also delivered a sermon against vaccination.
The Imam said that although the whole world faces the scourge of the coronavirus, the Muslim community is not afraid of the virus and will not be vaccinated. “I am saying in clear words that Muslims will not use the vaccine,” the Imam said in an interview.
The dislike of vaccines by the Muslim community for being ‘haram’ or containing pork products is not a new phenomenon. In 2018, Indonesia’s Ulema Council, the country’s highest administrative body that issues halal certificates, declared measles and rubella vaccines “haram” due to gelatin derived from pork.
However, it is interesting to note that while countries like Indonesia and clergymen from various other countries, including India, are rising up against vaccination against the coronavirus, Saudi Arabia has already started its vaccination campaign. In fact, not just the crown prince, but according to reports from the Saudi health minister, more than 500,000 people have signed up to receive the vaccine from the Arab country.
