"Pharmaceutical products are the same as food products and therefore, must be halal before being consumed by Muslims," MUI Chairman Ma`rouf Amin said.Jakarta (ABTARA News) - The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) has stated that pharmaceutical products such as medicines and vaccines, must have halal (allowed by Islamic law) certification and labels.
"Pharmaceutical products are the same as food products and therefore, must be halal before being consumed by Muslims," noted MUI Chairman Marouf Amin, here on Thursday.
He said that consuming halal products was part of their belief and faith. "Certification of pharmaceutical products is part of the efforts to protect Muslims from consuming haram (not allowed) medicines," he added.
The MUI chairman stated that based on the Constitution, the state must protect the right of the Muslims to not consume haram medicines and vaccines.
"The halal and haram issues must be comprehensively regulated by law. Therefore, the government must draw a Bill on the Halal Product Guarantee," added Amin.
MUI stressed that pharmaceutical products must be halal because medicines and vaccines were produced in a massive way, and they controlled the lives of many.
Amin said that MUI also encouraged the government to facilitate industries to produce halal pharmaceutical products through research and development activities.
"MUI asks all sides to mutually respect each others competence and authorities based on their respective tasks and functions," added Amin.
In this case, the MUI has the authority to decide the halal matter of a product.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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