Using cow blood to make a medical preparation

A question about using cow blood to make a medical preparation, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that blood is impure and that preparations containing it may not be used unless no pure medicine can replace them and they are proven effective, in which case they are permitted out of need. ¹

The questioner asked about the ruling on using cow blood to make a medical preparation. ¹

The Department answered that blood is among the impure substances, citing al-Nawawi's commentary on Sahih Muslim, which reports a consensus that it is impure. ¹ It said the Shafi'is permit treatment with impure substances such as blood, urine or carrion when no pure medicine that serves the purpose is available, citing al-Shirwani's gloss on Tuhfat al-Muhtaj. ¹ It noted that the Jordanian Iftaa Council decided in its decision No. 128 of 2009 that gelatin made from pork derivatives or impure animals may not be used in medicines, food supplements or their capsules, because alternatives exist from animals that may be eaten or from plants, except in necessity and when there is no alternative. ¹ It concluded that medical materials and preparations made with any blood are impure and may not be used unless no pure medicine can replace them and they are proven effective in treatment, in which case their use is permitted out of need. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3918, dated 4 September 2024. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.