Member
Posts: 47
Joined: Apr 2003
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Question:
What is the Islamic perspective on childhood immunizations or
vaccinations?
There is evidence to prove that they can be harmful to the body, but
they
are required in many countries. This is a very important topic that
many do
not have an adequate understanding of.
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Shaykh ?Abd al-?Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked:
What is the ruling on giving treatment before sickness occurs, such as
vaccinations?
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with giving treatment if there is the fear that
the
disease may occur because of the presence of an epidemic or other
factors
which may cause disease. There is nothing wrong with giving medicine to
ward
off the feared disease, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah
be upon him) said, according to the saheeh hadeeth, ?Whoever eats seven
dates of Madeenah in the morning will not be harmed by witchcraft or
poison.? This is a kind of warding off a problem before it happens. So
if
there is the fear of sickness and a person is vaccinated against an
infection that is present in the land or elsewhere, there is nothing
wrong
with that, because it is a kind of protection. But it is not
permissible to
wear or hang up amulets etc against sickness, the jinn or the evil eye,
because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade
that, and explained that this is a kind of minor shirk [associating
others
in worship with Allaah], so it must be avoided.
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 6/21
With regard to the harm suffered by those who are given some
vaccinations,
namely a short-lived fever or other side-efects, these drawbacks may be
overlooked when compared with the great harm that is warded off, namely
the
diseases that may kill or cause great harm to a person?s health.
This is similar to the case of circumcising boys by cutting off a piece
of
skin and the intense pain that is caused to the infant; this is
outweighed
by the great benefits that are served by this action, serving the
religious
interest of purity (tahaarah) and numerous worldly benefits.
The general shar?i principle with regard to this matter is that the
lesser
of two evils may be done in order to ward off the greater evil, if it
is
necessary to do one of them. Al-Ashbaah wa?l-Nazaa?ir by al-Subki,
1/45.
But if it is medically proven that a specific vaccine causes harm to
the
body or that its harmful effects outweigh its effects of warding off
disease, then it is not permissible to use it in that case, because the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ?There should
be
neither harm nor reciprocating harm.?
And Allaah knows best.
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Umm.Khadeejah
19-04-2003 @ 12:00 AM
