Statement from the International Islamic Fiqh Academy to Encourage Vaccination against Polio

This 5-page document highlights the importance of polio immunisation in the light of Islam. The fatwa (a religious opinion concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar), available in Arabic and English, was issued by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), Jeddah, a leading body of Muslim intelligentsia, at the request of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). It expresses the support of OIC and Islamic Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) supporting polio eradication. The OIC agreed to accelerate the fatwa following a Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) outreach meeting in July 2009 conducted as part of United States President Barrack Obama's commitment to work more closely with OIC member countries and those countries with significant Muslim populations. (The Fiqh was already consulting on the polio issue at the request of OIC at the urging of the World Health Organization, or WHO).

The fatwa is designed to be used as a communication tool for reaching out to Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh (UP), a state in India. There is still some resistance among Muslims towards polio drops. It is to them that imams (Islamic leader) will direct their messages when reading out the fatwa during, for instance, the Eid congregation. For example, in order to spread awareness about polio and the need for its eradication, Maulana Khalid Rasheed, naib (deputy) of Aishbagh (in Lucknow, India), embellished his Eid Mubaraq message with the words "Do boond zindagi ki" ("Two polio drops for life") on September 21 2009, when hundreds of Muslims congregated at Aishbagh Eidgah. He communicated this message in consonance with the GPEI slogan "Now More Than Ever: Stop Polio Forever".

The fatwa also features analysis that outlines a Muslim strategic perspective on polio immunisation. For instance, "Prevention of disease through vaccination is not a negation of trust in Allah....Indeed, real trust in Allah cannot be achieved except by embracing the apparent causes which Allah has designed, by destiny or by law, as requirements to produce effects. Thus, not giving vaccination could be a prohibition if it causes harm."

The IIFA secretariat concludes the fatwa by indicating that he hopes that ministries of health in member states will intensify their efforts to eradicate polio, based on the analysis provided in the fatwa. He also expresses hope that religious scholars and mosque leaders will urge parents to respond to vaccination campaigns with a view to providing benefits to their children.

The OIC has distributed this fatwa to all member states, and WHO has shared it with all polio-endemic countries and with countries fighting outbreaks, through WHO's Regional Office for Africa (AFRO).