Home > Islamic Answers > Themes > Medicine and treatments
not a reference

Medicine and treatments

Submitted by Ginny Lee on Mon, 03/22/2010 - 17:44
Islamic Answers Theme: 
Health
Optional Questions Introduction
Question Introduction: 

About medicines and treatments

Listing Information
List Image: 

Medicine and treatments Q&A

Our Scholars answer your questions

About medicines and treatments ...

Find out more

About medicines and treatments

Can you take medicine containing alcohol or gelatin?

Answered by: Shaykh Haytham Tamim

If it's a genuinely serious case where you have to take medicine that contains alcohol otherwise it will affect your health, and there are no alternatives, then it's fine to take the medicine. This is a case of allowing things which are usually prohibited to preserve your wellbeing and your health.

It's also worth looking to see if there are alternatives. If the answer is yes, then you don't need to take these tablets. Sometimes you just need to ask if there are alternatives as this information may not automatically be offered to you.

 

It also depends if it's for external or internal use. If it's a cream, then that's fine. If you take it in your mouth and then spit it out, that's fine. It's a question of whether you swallow it or not, and even then it's not a straightforward yes-no answer.

 

Sometimes alcohol is used in the process of creating a drug but the end product does not actually contain alcohol. If this is the case, then it's fine to take this medicine.

Answered by: Dr Musharraf Hussain

There are alternatives for most things, particularly with the number of pharmacies we have now, and you should try to look for halal ingredients. But if your condition is severe and there is no alternative to medicine which contains gelatin then rather than worsening your health, you should go for that.

Answered by: Dr Usama Hasan

It is sometimes possible to get gelatine free alternatives such as antibiotic liquids or capsules which have halal gelatine. It's important to remember that gelatine itself is not necessarily haram: pork gelatine is haram, but beef and sheep gelatine is halal in principle. If you can't find these alternatives, then I would say you can have medicine that contains gelatine, especially if it is medicine that is vital for your health.

Muslim doctors and pharmacists should strive to develop medicine that does not contain haram ingredients in them.

 

The same principle applies to alcohol; it is best to be avoided but in extreme circumstances even alcohol can be halal instead of haram, for example if you were dying of thirst. If you look hard enough you can find alcohol-free alternatives.