Taking a COVID-19 vaccine will not break a Muslim’s fast during Ramadan, Muslim scholars and medical experts have announced.
Answering a question in a Q&A live session by East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC), Dr. Yasir Qadhi said, “The vast majority of modern scholars and many of the fiqh councils in the world, including the council based in Makkah and the European councils, have all said that injections that are non-nutrient, including vaccines, do not break the fast.”
In addition to Sheikh Qadhi, Shaikh Dr. Ahmad bin Abdul Aziz Al Haddad, Grand Mufti and Head of the Fatwa Department at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai, also said that vaccines do not break the fast, Gulf News reported.
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The vaccine does not break any fast because it is taken intramuscularly like all other intramuscular needles, so it is permissible for the fasting person to take the jab, said Al Haddad.
He added that some Muslims may feel symptoms of fatigue as a result of COVID-19 or taking a vaccine, which prompts him to vomit or take painkillers.
“If he does not take any of the medicines that break the fast, then his fast is valid, and if he takes painkillers he has broken his fast, and there is no blame for him to break his fast if he is tired and needs to break the fast, then he is sick and has to make up the fast,” he said.
UK Experts
The opinion followed earlier statement by a British Islamic medical group which confirmed that the vaccines do not break Ramadan fasting.
“Taking the Covid-19 vaccines currently licensed in the UK does not invalidate the fast, as per the opinion of Islamic scholars. Individuals should not delay their Covid-19 vaccinations on the account of Ramadan,” the British Islamic Medical Association said in a statement, Dhaka Tribune reported.
“Subcutaneous, subdermal, intramuscular, interosseous, or intra-articular injections for non-nutritional purposes whilst fasting does not invalidate the fast, regardless of the injected content entering the blood circulation. These routes are not classed as entry sites that would invalidate the fast.”
Ramadan is the 9th month of the Hijri Islamic calendar. It commemorates the first revelation of the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad.
From dawn until sunset, Muslims refrain from food, drinking liquids, smoking, and engaging in sexual relations).
Ramadan is expected to start from April 13 this year subject to moon sighting.