QUETTA: Scholars and religious leaders, including Dr Attaur Rehman and Maulana Anwarul Haqqani, said they would prove that administering the anti- polio vaccine to children was Islamic and reflected the practice of Sunnah.

This was decided at a meeting held at the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) Balochistan. The meeting was chaired by the centre’s provincial coordinator Dr Saifur Rehman who briefed the ulema on the dangers of the virus, refusal cases in the province and how this could affect the country’s future generations.

Polio teams from Unicef and WHO were also present at the meeting. They were informed that parents of over 21,000 children had refused to get their children inoculated and of them 21 per cent said no on religious grounds during the last campaign.

Ulema were asked to help and play their role in the Quetta block – a high-risk area which includes Quetta, Pishin and Qila Abdullah.

“We have discussed this with prayer leaders and religious scholars all over the world,” said Dr Attaur Rehman. “Even in Makkah one cannot perform Hajj without being vaccinated.”

Maulana Haqqani cited several examples about Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) who stated that no compromise should be made on any health issues and preventive measures should be taken to avoid outbreak of diseases.

“Islam allows us to protect our children and future generations from crippling diseases,” he said. “If there are any preventive measures present then they should be adopted.”

According to religious leaders, they had voiced their support for the anti-polio drives during Eid, Ramazan and Friday prayers, and would continue to do so in the future as it was their responsibility to protect future generations. The meeting was also attended by prominent religious leaders such as Dr Rasheed Al Hazari and Maulana Abdul Raheem Rahimi.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2015

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