Consuming medicine containing animal products

Question

What is the ruling on a medicine which may contain some animal products, but the patient needs it. Will it be permissible to take?

Answer

That medicine which contains parts of an animal will only be permitted if we know that this was a halal animal and it was correctly slaughtered according to Islamic law. If it is not known if the animal was halal or haram or whether it was slaughtered correctly but it is confirmed that there are animal parts in the medicine then it will not be permitted to use that medicine.

Another scenario is that an ill person’s life is at threat and there is no other way of saving him except this particular medicine then it is possible that it may be permitted in this particular scenario. However, normally there are multiple forms of medicine for one particular illness so the normal ruling is that such a medicine which contains animal products will not be permitted unless it is confirmed that the animal is halal and slaughtered correctly.

Answered by: Mufti Sajid Attari

Translated by: Ibrar Shafi