Tunisia’s Grand Mufti confirms coronavirus vaccine does not break Ramadan fast

A man is wearing a face mask as part of measures to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic in Tunis, Tunisia on 23 March 2020 [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]

The Grand Mufti of Tunisia Othman Battikh confirmed that he had requested the coronavirus vaccine from the Ministry of Health on the first day of Ramadan.

“I am still waiting for an answer, and I do not think the ministry will deny me the vaccine,” Battikh announced on Mosaique FM.

Battikh stressed that vaccination is a duty within Sharia law and does not interrupt fasting, while calling on Tunisians to be vaccinated for their own safety and the safety of others.

He urged citizens to refrain from participating in demonstrations and marches due to the high risk of virus transmission in public gatherings.

As for Taraweeh prayer, the mufti recommended that it is wiser to pray at home, stressing that Muslims are not required to pray in mosques.

READ: Tunisia starts COVID-19 vaccination campaign

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.