[Al Arabiya Latest] Indonesia's top Muslim body called on Saudi Arabia Monday to drop a mandatory meningitis vaccination for Hajj pilgrims on the basis that the injection contains an enzyme from pigs, an animal considered impure in Islam. "We sent a letter to the Saudi government over the required meningitis vaccination for the pilgrims following our findings that it contains a pig substance," said the head of the Indonesian Council of Ulema Ma'ruf Amin.
Amin said the vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline had confirmed that a pig enzyme was used in the early stages of production of the vaccine, but was not in the final product. "The manufacturing company said that using a porcine enzyme in the initial process of its production is unavoidable," he said.
"As the hajj pilgrimage is a religious obligation, we have asked the Saudi authorities not to insist on the meningitis vaccination requirement," Amin said, adding that if necessary, an alternative should be found.