With the start of the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world are wondering whether it is permissible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine while observing the fast.
Coronavirus vaccination campaigns to combat the pandemic are well underway in many countries including Muslim states. The uncertainty surrounding the issue has forced Muslims to postpone receiving the COVID-19 during the daytime till the end of Ramadan.
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However, Islamic scholars around the world have ruled that COVID-19 vaccination while observing the fast will not invalidate one’s fast.
They are disseminating the ruling through face-to-face discussions and social networking platforms that it is permissible to be vaccinated for the Coronavirus during daily fasting.
Here’s what top Islamic scholars have ruled regarding COVID-19 vaccination and fasting.
Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, who also heads the kingdom’s Council of Senior Religious Scholars and its sub-committee, the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas, has said:
The COVID-19 vaccine does not invalidate the fast of a fasting person because it is not considered as food and drink. The vaccine is administered intramuscularly, so it does not invalidate the fast.
Grand Mufti of Dubai, Shaikh Dr. Ahmad bin Abdul Aziz Al Haddad, who also heads the Fatwa Department of the Dubai’s Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, has stated:
The COVID-19 vaccine does not break any fast because it is taken intramuscularly, so it is permissible for the fasting person to take the vaccine.
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Grand Mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Abdul-Latif Derian, has said:
The COVID-19 vaccine will not invalidate the fast because it has no nutritional value and it is injected into the muscle.
Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkey has ruled that:
There is no nutritious vitamin or food substance in any vaccine, including the COVID-19 vaccine. Injecting such a thing into the body does not break the fast.
In a joint statement, the Islamic Society of North America and British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) stated:
Receiving the COVID-19 vaccines does not invalidate the fast during Ramadan as per the opinion of the majority of Islamic scholars.
