Taking vaccinations which contain impure ingredients
31-5-2007 | IslamWeb
Question:
Asselamu aleikum,dear scholars! Maybe I bore you with my questions but there is nobody to be asked about.(Note I'm converted Muslima from Bulgaria).My question is about vaccination.Is it permissible to be put on our children?Some Muslims in UK deny it.They say that the vaccines are haram cause are made on animal or even embryo 's tissues and one of the components is gelatine(made from pork bones).So their fatwa is not to vaccine the children.Please,give us-me and my Muslim brothers and sisters in Bulgaria your point of view and advice.Thank you very much
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, all perfect praise be to Allaah, Who guided you to Islam and we ask Him to make you firm and steadfast on His Religion until the day you meet Him, and may He increase your zeal in performing more good deeds.
As regards vaccination, we have already issued Fataawa 92651 and 85750 clarifying that it is a permissible means (for treatment). However, if there is a doubt about the ingredient of a medicine which is used in vaccination, then one should consult the trustworthy Muslim doctors. If it is confirmed that it contains impure ingredients, then, it is forbidden in principle to vaccinate with it unless this impurity is totally transformed, in a way that nothing remains of it, because the jurists 
stated that transformed impure items are pure. However, if this ingredient is not transformed and there is another permissible alternative, then it is not permissible to use this vaccine. Nonetheless, if there is no other permissible alternative, then there are some details about the issue. If there is a preponderant probability for the children who are not vaccinated to become sick and that the disease is very serious, in a way that it is feared to cause death or a permanent handicap, then it appears that this case is like a dire necessity that would permit using such impermissible vaccine; Allaah Says (what means): {…while He has explained in detail to you what He has forbidden you, excepting that to which you are compelled.}[Quran 6:119]. However, if one of the conditions is not met [the probability of sickness, and the disease being serious] then in our view (in Islamweb) it is not permissible to be vaccinated with something impure unless it is transformed.