Muslims are commanded to worship Allah. This order can be carried out properly if you are physically healthy. When we are unwell, we need to take medicine to get better. Even so, we must be aware of the medicines we are taking.
Allah has ordered Muslims to consume medicine made from halal ingredients. In the Hadith narrated by Abu Daud, Rasulullah said, “Indeed, Allah has sent down the disease and the cure for it. And Allah has made every disease have a cure. So seek treatment, but don’t seek treatment with anything haram.”
There are several raw materials that we need to pay attention to when consuming medicines. Halal Partnership and Audit Services Director of LPPOM MUI, Dr. Ir. Muslich, M.Si., shared the critical points for halal medicines.
First, you cannot use porcine and its derivatives, human body parts, or other haram ingredients. Second, haram ingredients other than pork derivatives and functions of the human body may be used in the fermentation process, provided there is a purification process according to halal requirements. Third, the material must originate from a pure source and be proven by supporting documents that meet the certification criteria. Fourth, the materials to be considered include active ingredients, excipients, auxiliary materials, cleaning agents, washing result validation media, and primary packaging.
“Another thing that needs to be considered is that production facilities must be pork-free. Never come into contact with pork derivatives. If you have come into contact with these materials, cleaning the heavily unclean facilities is necessary. “Free from uncleanness, if you have been in contact, you need to purify moderately unclean facilities,” explained Muslich.
However, it is also necessary to have the following facilities for sanitizing production tools, separated from instruments contaminated with haram materials. For example, the washing room in the production area is explicitly used to wash facilities contaminated with pork derivative materials. In addition, sampling tools (scoops, containers, etc.) must not be cleaned in washing facilities that are also used to wash laboratory equipment exposed to porcine-derived materials.
Muslich also explained that sterilization of sampling tools (if necessary) needs to be separate and must not be carried out in an autoclave, which is also used for sterilization or destruction of media containing porcine derivative materials or sterilization of equipment that has been exposed to pork derivative materials. (ZUL)
