WORCESTER - There can be debate in the Islamic world whenever a new vaccine is developed about whether it has elements such as alcohol or animal fats that are against Islamic law.
With COVID-19 vaccines, that is not the case. But even if it were, COVID-19 is so serious a virus that Islamic law would permit and perhaps even say it is obligatory to take the vaccination, said Asif Hirani, imam and resident scholar at the Worcester Islamic Center.
The American Muslim community is "very receptive" to taking COVID- 19 vaccines, he said.
"I'm very proud. All of us are very receptive that we have to take the vaccine," he said. "This (vaccine) is a ray of hope. In the American Muslim community people are really very, very receptive. We were waiting for something like this."