Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, one of the world’s most prestigious centers of Islamic learning, warned against fatwas prohibiting the use of the polio vaccination in Pakistan, defining the vaccine as a “religious, medical, and humanitarian duty.”
The propagation of decrees limiting vaccination is a “violation of the rights of Pakistani children and their families,” the university stated in a tweet on Wednesday, emphasizing that withholding a vaccine helpful to children, such as the polio vaccine, is “prohibited by Sharia.”
١/ #الأزهر يوجه نداءً عالميًّا لإغاثة #باكستان
الأزهر يحذِّر من فتاوى تحريم لقاح #شلل_الأطفال بباكستان ويؤكِّد أن اللقاح واجب ديني وطبي وإنساني pic.twitter.com/1U8EevkAQs
— الأزهر الشريف (@AlAzhar) October 12, 2022
Violence, terror, and misinformation pose hurdles to officials attempting to reach every child needing polio vaccines in Pakistan, where at least 19 cases are reported yearly.
The statement came following Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel’s visit to the Grand Imam of the Al Azhar, Prof Ahmed At-Tayyeb, in Cairo where he discussed the flood crisis in Pakistan with the host.
The university called for the international community, including relief and humanitarian organizations to show compassion for Pakistan in the face of this crisis, which has lost hundreds of lives, uprooted families, destroyed houses, and created epidemic illnesses.
The grand imam also said special prayers for those who died in the floods, saying that Pakistan is a resilient nation that will undoubtedly survive this natural crisis.
The Twitter account of the Ministry of National Health Services of Pakistan announced the meeting.
Grand Imam of Al Azhar University, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb received Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, Pakistan's Federal Minister for National Health Services at Cairo for a briefing on the latest developments in the flood crisis in Pakistan.@WHO @gatesfoundation @AlAzhar @PakinEgypt pic.twitter.com/4zUjEduLsb
— Ministry of National Health Services, Pakistan (@nhsrcofficial) October 12, 2022
