Fatwa ID: 05901

Answered by: Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji

Question:

Are punctal plugs made of gelatin halal? They slowly dissolve over a week or a few months or a year or two. (basically, it’s a collagen or gelatin product that occludes your eye duct for some months and slowly dissolves away and then enters your nose and probably the back of your throat, which is the route of your tears It treats dry eye)

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Since the gelation used in medication is generally animal-based, it is incumbent upon the consumer to identify the source of the gelatin.¹

1. The gelatin from fish and plants is permissible.
2. The gelatin extracted from the bones of permissible animals is also permissible.
3. The gelatin extracted from the skin of permissible animals is permissible when it is slaughtered in the correct manner,
4. The gelatin extracted from impermissible animals is impermissible.²

In conclusion, if the gelatin used in the product is from a permissible source, it is permissible to use. Likewise, if it is from an impermissible source it will be impermissible.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Ahmed Bin Mohamed Umarji

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

1 Fatawa Darul Uloom Zakariyya, Volume 5, Page 582, Zam Zam Publishers

2 Fatawa Darul Uloom Zakariyya, Volume 5, Page 594, Zam Zam Publishers