As Muslims around the globe prepare to mark Ramadan next week, Australia's Grand Mufti Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed has reassured followers that they are permitted to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in daylight hours during the holy month and that it will not be considered as breaking their fast.
Beginning for most Muslims in Australia on Tuesday for some, and Wednesday for others, Ramadan is an occasion where observers refrain from consuming food and water from dawn till dusk.
It is considered as one of the five pillars of Islam that followers must abide by and represents a period where they can get closer to God through their prayers.
This year, Ramadan coincides with that the government had hoped to finalise by October.
Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed. Source: AAP
Health authorities planned to administer four million vaccine doses by the beginning of March, but only one million have been given thus far.
In February, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils certified all COVID-19 vaccines as Halal, meaning they're permissible to take.
During this process, the grand mufti and the federation sought advice from more than 250 Muslim doctors and experts in the field, to assure that the vaccines didn't contain extracts that were not considered Halal.
Dr Mohamed assures that vaccines for COVID-19 are like other medicines in that receiving the jab during Ramadan won’t be considered as breaking the fast.
“The vaccine in itself does not break the fast, unless a person feels ill after taking it, like experiencing a high temperature, or pain that is unbearable, then one may break his fast,” he said.
Sheikh Youssef Nabha, imam of the Masjid Arrahman mosque in Sydney said: "In terms of legitimacy, it is permissible to take a medicine needle during fasting and it does not break the fast, but if it is a vitamin needle, for example, then it breaks the fast."
A view of the vaccination centre at the Royal Exhibition building in Melbourne, Monday, March 22, 2021. Source: AAP
"Therefore this vaccine is like medicine, so it is permissible to take the vaccine during fasting in the holy month of Ramadan."
The representative of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council in Australia, Sheikh Kamal Mousselmani, also confirmed that for his followers, taking the jab won't break their sacred fast.
"I encourage Muslims to take the vaccine for their benefit and their safety and the safety of others," he said.
Dr Mohamed reflected on how 2020 was a year of "total separation and departure” from the familiar traditions that Australia’s Muslims are accustomed to.
"Last year we told believers to pray from home. The prayers were made with tears as Muslims weren't able to attend the mosques.
"Homes turned into mosques, the families became the prayer groups and the head of the house turned into an imam leading the prayers with their family."
He expressed his "deep gratitude" for the efforts made by the federal and state governments, as well as frontline workers, to contain the pandemic.
He's calling on the Muslim community in Australia to be "a model that carries the mercy of God to the world, a model of peace, tranquillity , love, giving and goodness and creativity", insisting they "never be a source of evil in any aspect of this world".
Different start dates
It is common for the start date of Ramadan to differ between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam in Australia.
On Friday, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils - an organisation that represents Sunni Muslims - confirmed that April 13 would be the start date for Ramadan.
However, for some Shia groups, Ramadan's start date depends on the sighting of the ninth moon on the Islamic calendar, and April 14 was selected.
