Polio vaccination does not violate Sharia: IAC

JADDAH: The ulemas of Islamic Advisory Council (IAC) have declared the anti-polio drives in conformity with Sharia and violence against polio workers un-Islamic.

The ulemas and scholars of Islamic Advisory Academy, Fiqa Academy Jamia Al Azhar and Islamic Development Bank in a meeting held with Imam-e-Haram at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) here made this declaration.

In a handout issued after the meeting, the ulemas and scholars categorically declared the anti-polio drives valid and in conformity with the Sharia, while the violence against the polio workers inhuman and against the teachings of Islam.

It further said that the attacks on polio vaccinators, restraining them from dispensing polio vaccination and not letting children be provided the necessary protection from the polio menace in parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are blatant violations of the teachings of Islam.

The handout further said that the children in Pakistan and Somalia are being hit by polio without the protective doses of vaccines and the violence to impede polio drives condemnable.