The goal of public health is to prevent disease and vaccination fulfils that role by protecting people from contracting serious diseases as well as curtailing the spread of such diseases to others. However, the implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) polio vaccination drive is being hampered in some Muslims countries. For example, polio workers are being killed in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Somalia. This article addresses the concerns that Muslims have vis-à-vis to vaccination and attempts to dispel them on the basis of al-Maqasid al-Shari`ah (objectives of Divine Law) and insights from al-Fiqh al-Tibbi al-Islami (Islamic Medical Jurisprudence).

The goal of public health is to prevent disease and vaccination fulfils that role by protecting people from contracting serious diseases as well as curtailing the spread of such diseases to others. However, the implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) polio vaccination drive is bei...