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Egypt's Dar al-Ifta Authorizes Use of COVID-19 Vaccine Containing Pork Components

A member of the medical team sprays disinfectant for the COVID-19 outbreak at a metro station in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)
A member of the medical team sprays disinfectant for the COVID-19 outbreak at a metro station in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)
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Egypt's Dar al-Ifta Authorizes Use of COVID-19 Vaccine Containing Pork Components

A member of the medical team sprays disinfectant for the COVID-19 outbreak at a metro station in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)
A member of the medical team sprays disinfectant for the COVID-19 outbreak at a metro station in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters)

Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta said the coronavirus vaccine, which is said to contain a porcine substance, is not forbidden according to the Islamic Sharia as long as this substance has been transformed into another one.

In a fatwa issued on Saturday, Dar al-Ifta said the porcine substance has been transformed into another during the manufacturing process of the vaccine, and thus there is no judgment based on the impurity that it once was.

In this regard, Dar el Iftaa has allowed people to be treated by the vaccine when its manufacturing substance is transformed.

Also, Al-Azhar issued a fatwa prohibiting the violation of the precautions issued by authorities to curb the spread of the virus.

Al-Azhar Fatwa Global Center renewed its warning against violating the preventive measures after the country reported a spike in infections.

The Center reiterated Saturday that citizens must abide by the measures and the instructions of the Health Ministry, issued to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

It warned that the virus can harm those who don’t follow the precautions, as well as their families and people they meet or work with.

The Health Ministry also reiterated that it was necessary to clean and sterilize mosques throughout the country and ensure that worshipers maintain social distance while toilets and shrines remain closed.

Egypt recorded on Saturday 1,133 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 130,126.

The Ministry reported in a statement that 49 patients have also died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 7,309.

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Türkiye Resolves Residency Dispute of Exiled Brotherhood Judge Sharaby

Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)
Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)
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Türkiye Resolves Residency Dispute of Exiled Brotherhood Judge Sharaby

Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)
Egyptian judge Waleed Sharaby (Facebook)

An exiled Egyptian judge affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood said he ended an open-ended hunger strike after Turkish authorities intervened to resolve his residency status, following a public plea to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Waleed Sharaby, who fled to Türkiye in 2016 after being sentenced in Egypt, announced on Facebook late Thursday that he was halting his protest, which began outside a police station where he had been staging a sit-in.

He said the hunger strike was in response to Turkish authorities preventing him from leaving the country and refusing to renew his residency for nearly two years.

Sharaby claimed Turkish security services had acted on pressure from Egypt’s intelligence services, prompting him to appeal directly to Erdogan. He did not provide evidence for the alleged interference.

Moreover, Sharaby said he ended a two-day hunger strike and sit-in protest in Türkiye after receiving a call from a senior Turkish official who pledged to resolve his legal and residency issues.

Sharaby wrote on Facebook that he returned home and resumed eating on Thursday after the official, whose identity he did not disclose, invited him to a meeting and assured him that part of the issue would be resolved soon. “We may succeed in fully resolving the matter following this initial step,” he said.

Sharaby, who fled Egypt in 2016 after court rulings against him, began his hunger strike on Wednesday outside a police station in protest over what he described as Turkish authorities’ refusal to renew his residency for nearly two years and a travel ban that prevented him from leaving the country.

According to sources, Turkish authorities briefly detained him on Wednesday while attempting to depart the country, citing alleged financial violations involving Turkish citizens. He was held for a day before being released, after which he launched his protest.

During his sit-in, Sharaby publicly appealed to Erdogan via Facebook, asking for a personal meeting or for the issue to be referred to the appropriate authorities.

He claimed he had been subjected to “severe harassment” and travel restrictions, including pressure on a business he owns in Türkiye and a ban on leaving the country to seek asylum, reportedly in a European state, where his wife and children relocated nearly two years ago.

Turkish authorities have not publicly commented on the case. Türkiye has hosted several exiled members of the Muslim Brotherhood following the group's ouster from power in Egypt in 2013, though Ankara has since moved to restore ties with Cairo.

Sources close to Sharaby said Turkish authorities have agreed to grant him humanitarian residency, allowing him to remain in the country permanently despite the expiry of his Egyptian passport.

The move aligns with similar measures taken for other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government.