Meningitis vaccines declared halal

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) declared Monday that meningitis vaccines produced by two companies -- Novartis and Tian Yuan – to be halal, thus can be used by Muslims intending to do haj pilgrimages in Arab Saudi.

MUI chairman Amidhan Shaberah told The Jakarta Post that the companies were proven not to involve any elements from swine in the making of the vaccines.

The one produced by GlaxoSmithKline and previously used by the pilgrims, however, was declared  haram or forbidden under Islamic law.

"Although it cannot be detected in the end result, the production process still involved elements from swine...we consider that as haram," Amidhan said.

According to him, last year the usage of the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine was allowed because it was considered an emergency and there were no alternatives.

The government of Saudi Arabia obliges pilgrims to be vaccinated against meningitis, which is a brain inflammatory disease that can be deadly or fatal, before entering the country.