A conflict between Islam and Science? Covid-19 Vaccines and Muslim communities in Barcelona and Tangier
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific discourses have been more present in the public sphere. Among other issues, there has been a growing interest to know how religious leaders and communities respond to restrictions and demand associated with the pandemic. Some recent studies have pointed out to the different type of responses that Muslim communities have developed amidst COVID-19 restrictions (Supian et. al 2020, Mateo Dieste 2020). Despite the lack of extensive research addressing this issue, the pandemic has proved the importance to analyse in depth the relationship between religious and scientific discourses in the context of Islam in Western Europe and Muslim majority countries. Moreover, Islam is often portrayed as an example of a religion that does not permit Muslims to arrive to the scientific enlightenment (Unsworth, 2019)
Considering all this background, the overarching aim of the project “Islam, Science and Gender: Negotiating Boundaries in two case studies in Spain and Morocco”[1] was to examine contemporary processes of negotiation of scientific and religious discourses among Muslim population in two different cities: Barcelona and Tangier. The selection of these two cities aimed to explore the cases in two completely different urban contexts. Among other differences, while in Barcelona the Muslim community is characterised for being a minority with a migratory background that is growing gradually in population, Tangier is a city of a Muslim majority country. The comparison between the two cities aimed to explore to what extent this negotiation between Islam and science is influenced by the context and the city different legal and religious situation. While in Spain the Muslim communities live in a minority situation where Islamic jurisprudence is practically absent, in Morocco Islamic jurisprudence is considered one of the key sources for law.
The methodology of research was based on semi-structured interviews to Muslim health professionals and to Muslim leaders in the two cities. The health professionals included a wide variant of specialities (doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, scientific researchers…). To interview Muslim health professionals was relevant to identify possible tensions and dilemmas that they have experienced either in first person or through their patients. The Muslim leaders were both people responsible of religious centres and of Muslim associations, especially imams who can have a relevant role in counselling to Muslim families (Brekke et al. 2022). A total of 20 interviews were conducted (10 in each city), which were complemented with informal conversations and observations and visits to some associations and clinics.
After conducting the exploratory research between May and November 2022, the aim of this article is to briefly present three preliminary findings. The first one is that the rejection for COVID-19 among persons with a Muslim background does not seem to have a direct relationship with religion. Most of the Health Professionals interviewed in both Barcelona and Tangier insisted that the COVID-19 vaccine is permitted by Islam, and that there is not a shadow of doubt about it. Despite recognising that there are people rejecting the vaccine, neither the religious identification nor the religious reasoning appears as the main reason. For instance, a doctor living in Barcelona insisted:
Conflict with vaccines…I do not think it has to do with religion, but rather it depends on the person, there are people who are more suspicious of these vaccines, because they have come out so soon or there are so many doses, but at the level of religion I do not see a way to associate it […] I know people who have perhaps been vaccinated just because there are so many restrictions, because they felt obligated, but I have not seen that it is something only of Muslims (E02- Doctor, woman, Barcelona)
Similarly, another doctor from Barcelona said:
Yes, yes, there is no doubt about that, they [COVID-19 vaccines] are Islamically allowed…Some people talk about these slightly paranoid theories and that maybe someone has been experimenting with us, but there is nothing religiously against vaccines. There are anti-vaccination people, both Muslim and non-Muslim, but it has nothing to do with Islam, there is nothing to prevent you from getting vaccinated (E03-Doctor, man)
Similar responses were given in the Moroccan context. Moreover, in Tangier, a leader of an association confirmed to have participated in a program to promote COVID-19 prevention with the main aim of challenging negative ideas about COVID-19. However, she insisted that there was no religious reasoning in these “fake ideas”:
(…) from what I know it was more about it’s dangerous, it’s poison, it’s a conspiracy. Those ideas were not about religion […] At first it was not about the vaccine; it was very really to promote COVID 19 prevention. So, it was it was interesting from what to promote it to avoid COVID 19. (E18- Association Leader- woman)
When the participants were asked about possible discussions among the components of the vaccine being not halal, they either ignored this aspect or considered that this was not problematic. A nurse living in Barcelona, for instance, insisted that the vaccine was Islamically permitted, since it was for preventing a disease:
Well, yes, there was a component according to the studies that came from an animal part, as it is a cure, it is not something food, as it has been proven as something preventive, it was approved by the Islamic Council (E05, nurse, man)
The second relevant finding is that mosques and religious centres have had a key role in promoting vaccination. Most Muslim leaders recognised that Imams used Friday prayers to explain the positive elements of COVID-19 vaccines. In Barcelona, being a religious minority, this has been something relevant for avoiding social problems and a way to show that they were following all the measures imposed by the government as a condition for opening the mosques and religious centres[2]. For instance, a doctor also highlighted the following:
(…) especially during the prayers on Friday that more people are coming, the imam recommended the mandatory use of the mask, social distancing. He made them as a reminder so that they know that it is important to protect themselves, that you have to wash your hands well, you had to keep the mask on and you had to maintain social distance and obviously also recommended vaccination, it was like a reminder every Friday so that people knew it was important (E03, doctor, man)
In Tangier, according to some participants, something similar happened and people were also asked to follow restrictions and get the vaccine to come to mosques. Then, a pharmacist also suggested that some people got the vaccine in order to be able to go to mosques and follow the measures:
I think a lot of people in most and mosques did the shots, because in the background there, there is a problem to go to the mosque. You should have your shot because the mosques were closed and when they get it open, they said that you should have your vaccine shot and you should respect the wearing the mask and get in with distance with people and stuff like that. So, a lot of people were doing it just to go to mosque (E16, pharmacist, man)
Finally, the third finding is that most participants highlighted the references of COVID-19 restrictions in the Qur’an as an example of a lack of conflict between religion and science. The Qur’an is often referred by participants as the main source of information for scientific knowledge and a prove that there is no incompatibility between Islam and science. In that line, most informants referred to COVID-19 restrictions as an example of this. They mentioned that some restrictions such as confinement and hand-cleaning already appear in the Qur’an. For instance, a President of a Muslim Association in Barcelona clearly stated:
(…) the Qur’an is a very big thing, which has our whole life, when we are well, when we are bad, when we are sick, when we encounter a disease like the Coronavirus, it was here in the Qur’an (E08, president of association, man)
In Barcelona, another Muslim Association organized an event on “Islam and Science” in which one of the main messages was to state that COVID-19 restrictions such as confinement already appeared in the Qur’an without being based on scientific evidence. Then, the speaker, member of the association and also a doctor stated:
(…) We did not have this scientific knowledge fourteen centuries ago… If we go back to history, nobody knew if there were microorganisms or microparticles that could be transmitted, nobody knew… but if we look in the literature there is a saying of the prophet, who said that if in some areas, you hear that there is a disease… at that time they called it the plague, because the most famous pandemic was the plague… and the one in which half the population of Africa and Europe died. If you hear that in a specific area, there is a disease that is transmitted, do not leave that area. This is the concept we hear today of confinement. (fieldwork notes, may 2022)
These preliminary findings suggest that COVID-19 vaccinations and restrictions have not been a main source for promoting a potential conflict between Islam and Science. In contrast, the Islamic perspective and the Qur’an have been used for justifying the need to follow the measures and protect each other through the vaccines. Despite of this, more research needs to be done to analyse in depth these issues, as well as identify potential processes of negotiation between religious and scientific discourses among other scientific cases. Moreover, further research such also explore internal differences between Muslims associations and Muslim people, and more differences between cities and urban contexts.
Main references
Brekke, Torkel, Fazal Hadi, and Edin Kozaric. (2022). «The Role of Imams in Family Counselling with Muslim Families in Norway.» Journal of Muslims in Europe, 11(2): 175-193. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22117954-bja10040
Mateo Dieste, Jose Luis. (2020). “El coronavirus en el campo religioso marroquí: las invocaciones a Allah en la noche de 21 de marzo en el norte de Marruecos”. Perifèria, revista de recerca i formació en antropologia, 25(2), pp.34-49, https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/periferia.739
Supian, Supian, Fridiyanto Fridiyanto, Muhammad Sobri, and Muhammad Rafi’i. (2020). «Scientific Muslims versus Anti-Science Muslims Contentious Science and Religion in Covid-19 Pandemic”. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 529: 261-267.
Unsworth, Amy. (2019). «Discourses on science and Islam: a view from Britain.» In Science, Belief and Society. Bristol University Press: 263-288.
[1] This research was funded by the SEED Program of the International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief, https://scienceandbeliefinsociety.org
[2] The positive role of religious centres of religious minorities in Spain is also reported by the study “El impacto de la crisis del covid-19 en las minorías religiosas en España: Desafíos para un escenario futuro” available at: https://www.observatorioreligion.es/upload/91/32/INFORME_COVMINREL.pdf
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