In northern Nigeria, a focus group discussion with 13 senior Islamic scholars (Imams) from diverse ideological backgrounds was conducted in Gombe one week before the state’s HPV vaccine launch in May 2024, with the aim of surfacing barriers to vaccine acceptance and building religious endorsement ahead of rollout. Scholars reached consensus that Islam permits — and can mandate — vaccination, and identified the root causes of HPV vaccine misinformation as relational and communicative rather than doctrinal: poor dialogue between scientific authorities and religious leaders, mutual mistrust, disharmony among health professionals, inadequate pre-vaccine education, and suspicion of Western interventions. At the close of the session, 12 of the 13 scholars expressed readiness to actively encourage their followers to accept the HPV vaccine. The findings underscore that timely, structured engagement with Islamic religious leaders prior to vaccine introduction is a critical enabling condition for programme success in northern Nigeria, where religious authority shapes community health behaviour.