Wintang Warastri, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) secretary, Anwar Abbas, urged people to refer to the council's past fatwa on meningitis vaccine following MUI's fears of a potential future polemic emerging amidst the clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine.

"If there will not be any halal vaccines [in the future], it is permitted to use the non-halal vaccine which would allow oneself to avoid disaster and calamity," said Anwar in a text message to Tempo on Wednesday, July 22.

MUI had previously issued a fatwa in 2009 on the use of meningitis vaccine for muslims in the hajj and umrah pilgrimage. At the time, the vaccine's production had come across materials from swine which makes it haram.

This fatwa explicitly implies that it is permissible or mubah if under an emergency situation or li al-hajjah. However, Anwar said that MUI had demanded the government to stop the production of haram vaccines once a halal vaccine has been discovered.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1368291/mui-says-non-halal-covid-19-vaccines-permissible-in-emergency