Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of the Visitors of his Facebook Page "Fiqhi"
Answer to a Question
Benefiting from Animal Parts, Limbs, and Bones To: Ahmed Al-Khatib
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh, In the name of Allah, praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his family, and all his companions.
I have noticed in some commercial shops that they sell prayer beads, necklaces, bracelets, etc., made from animal bones. My question regarding animals is: Is it permissible to benefit from the limbs and parts of animals?
The Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُفَقِّهْهُ فِي الدِّينِ
"Whomever Allah intends good for, He gives him the understanding of the Deen."
May Allah reward you with goodness and keep us steadfast on the Truth and the work to establish the State of Islam.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
The issue of benefiting from animal parts and limbs is a matter with many details, featuring differences in the schools of jurisprudence (madhahib) and the ijtihad of scholars. I summarize it in this answer as follows:
First: Benefiting from bones (this includes horns, teeth, hooves, and claws):
1. Bones of an animal whose meat is edible and which has been slaughtered according to Shari’ah:
It is permissible to benefit from the bones of an animal whose meat is edible if it has been slaughtered according to Shari’ah (dhakah shar’iyyah). This is because the carcass of an edible animal becomes pure (tahir) through legal slaughter, making it permissible to benefit from all of it, including meat, bone, and other parts. This is a matter upon which we have found no disagreement among Muslims. Muslims used to cook the meat of slaughtered animals with their bones and eat them; if the bones were impure, they would not have done so. This indicates that the bones are pure and thus it is permissible to benefit from them. Al-Bukhari narrated from Ibn Abbas (ra):
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَكَلَ كَتِفَ شَاةٍ ثُمَّ صَلَّى وَلَمْ يَتَوَضَّأْ
"That the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ate a shoulder of a sheep, then he prayed and did not perform wudu."
The shoulder contains a bone.
2. Bones of the carrion (dead) of an animal whose meat is edible:
An animal whose meat is edible may die naturally (hatf anfihi) or die through a non-Shari’ah-compliant slaughter, such as being slaughtered by a Buddhist, for example. In both cases, it is considered carrion (maytah), and the rulings of carrion apply to it. Regarding benefiting from the bones of such carrion, scholars have differed. Those who viewed the bones as impure (najis) prohibited benefiting from them—these include the majority of the Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis, and others. Those who viewed the bones as pure permitted benefiting from them, including the Hanafis, Ibn Sirin, and Ibn Jurayj.
The view I prefer is that the bones of the carrion of an edible animal are impure, as the description of carrion applies to them, based on the words of the Almighty:
قَالَ مَنْ يُحْيِ الْعِظَامَ وَهِيَ رَمِيمٌ
"He says, 'Who will give life to bones while they are disintegrated?'" (Surah Ya-Sin [36]: 78)
The indication of the word "gives life" (yuhyi) in relation to bones implies that the bones of the dead are also dead (carrion). Therefore, it is not permissible to benefit from them because they are impure and are considered carrion. This is also due to the saying of the Messenger ﷺ in the hadith extracted by al-Bukhari in at-Tarikh, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, and others, from Abdullah bin 'Ukaym who said: Our elders from Juhaynah narrated to us that the Prophet ﷺ wrote to them:
لا تنتَفِعُوا من الميْتةِ بشيءٍ
"Do not benefit from carrion in any way."
Al-Albani mentioned it in Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah (7/366) and said: "This is a sound (sahih) chain, its narrators are the trustworthy narrators of the Sahih." The narration of Ibn Hibban is: "Do not enjoy anything from the carrion." It is clear from the hadith that it is impermissible to benefit from carrion in all aspects, and it is not limited to the prohibition of eating its meat, unless a specific evidence (dalil mukhassis) is provided, and no such specific evidence has been provided regarding bones.
3. Bones severed from a living edible animal:
A severed bone refers to a bone that is cut from an animal while it is alive. Such a bone takes the ruling of carrion; it is impure and it is not permissible to benefit from it. This is based on what was narrated by al-Hakim in his Mustadrak and others from Abu Waqid al-Laythi, who said: People in the Jahiliyyah (before Islam) used to cut off the humps of camels and the fatty tails of sheep to eat them and extract fat from them. When the Prophet ﷺ arrived, they asked him about that, and he said:
مَا قُطِعَ مِنَ الْبَهِيمَةِ وَهِيَ حَيَّةٌ فَهُوَ مَيِّتٌ
"Whatever is cut from an animal while it is alive is carrion."
Al-Hakim said: "This hadith has a sound chain though they (al-Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it," and adh-Dhahabi said: "Sound." Naturally, a bone severed from a dead animal is also carrion because it is part of a corpse, so it is not valid to benefit from it.
4. Bones of an animal whose meat is not edible:
These are the bones of animals that Allah has forbidden us to eat, such as beasts of prey, elephants, eagles, and the like. There has been disagreement regarding the ruling on benefiting from the bones of these animals while alive (if severed) or after their death. Some differentiated between whether they died naturally or were slaughtered, etc., among many details and differences among scholars. The view I prefer is the prohibition of benefiting from the bones of animals whose meat is not edible:
a. If the bone taken from it was severed while it was alive, it is carrion and it is not permissible to benefit from it based on his saying: "Whatever is cut from an animal while it is alive is carrion."
b. If it died naturally, it is carrion like the edible animal; in fact, it is even more so. In this case, his ﷺ saying applies to it: "Do not benefit from carrion in any way."
c. If it died by slaughter, it is also carrion because slaughter is only considered a legal slaughter (dhakah shar’iyyah) for animals whose meat is edible. As for animals whose meat is not edible, they cannot be subject to legal slaughter, so the act of slaughtering them does not elevate them to the status of being legally slaughtered. Thus, it is carrion whose bones may not be used, and his ﷺ saying also applies: "Do not benefit from carrion in any way."
5. Bones of fish and sea carrion:
Fish and sea carrion are halal, as stated in the hadiths. Ibn Majah narrated from Ibn Umar (ra) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Two types of dead meat and two types of blood have been permitted for us. The two types of dead meat are fish and locusts..." At-Tirmidhi narrated in his Sunan from al-Mughirah bin Abi Burdah that he heard Abu Hurairah saying: A man asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: O Messenger of Allah, we travel by sea and carry a small amount of water with us. If we use it for wudu, we will become thirsty. Shall we perform wudu with seawater? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
هُوَ الطَّهُورُ مَاؤُهُ الْحِلُّ مَيْتَتُهُ
"Its water is pure and its dead meat is permissible."
Abu Isa (at-Tirmidhi) said: "This is a hasan sahih hadith." Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Jabir (ra) who said: We set out on the expedition of al-Khabat and Abu Ubaidah was our commander. We became severely hungry, then the sea threw up a dead whale, the like of which we had never seen, called al-Anbar. We ate from it for half a month. Abu Ubaidah took one of its bones and a rider passed under it. Abu az-Zubair informed me that he heard Jabir saying: Abu Ubaidah said: "Eat." When we came to Madinah, we mentioned that to the Prophet ﷺ and he said:
كُلُوا رِزْقاً أَطْعِمُونَا إِنْ كَانَ مَعَكُمْ فَأَتَاهُ بَعْضُهُمْ فَأَكَلَهُ
"Eat the provision that Allah has brought forth; feed us if you have any with you." So some of them brought him some and he ate it.
This means that sea carrion is pure and halal, and it is permissible to benefit from it, including benefiting from its bones.
Second: Benefiting from Skins (Hides):
1. Skins of an edible animal slaughtered according to Shari’ah:
It is permissible to benefit from the skins of an edible animal slaughtered according to Shari’ah because it is pure due to the slaughter. This is based on what was narrated by an-Nasa'i in his Sunan and authenticated by al-Albani from Salama bin al-Muhabbiq that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, during the Battle of Tabuk, asked for water from a woman. She said: "I have none except in a skin container (qirbah) made from carrion." He said:
أَلَيْسَ قَدْ دَبَغْتِهَا؟
"Have you not tanned it?"
She said: "Yes." He said:
فَإِنَّ دِبَاغَهَا ذَكَاتُهَا
"Then indeed, its tanning is its slaughter."
The Prophet ﷺ made the tanning of the skin of carrion equivalent to legal slaughter for edible animals because legal slaughter only applies to them. This indicates the permissibility of benefiting from the skin of an edible animal slaughtered according to Shari’ah, and we have found no disagreement on this.
2. Skins of the carrion of an edible animal:
Scholars have differed on the ruling of benefiting from the skins of the carrion of an edible animal. The view I prefer is that it is permissible to benefit from the skins of an edible animal, whether it died naturally or through a non-Shari’ah slaughter, but on the condition that it is tanned. This is because the skin of carrion is impure, and tanning purifies it if it is the skin of the carrion of an edible animal. This is based on the following evidence:
a. From the previously mentioned hadith of Salama bin al-Muhabbiq: "Then indeed, its tanning is its slaughter." It is clear that tanning the skin of the carrion of an edible animal purifies it and makes benefiting from it permissible.
b. Ibn Hibban narrated in his Sahih from al-Aliyah bint Subay' that she said: I had sheep at Uhud and they began to die. I went to Maymunah and mentioned that to her. Maymunah said to me: "If only you had taken their skins and benefited from them." I said: "Is that permissible?" She said: "Yes, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by some men of Quraysh dragging a sheep of theirs like a donkey. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them:
لَوْ أَخَذْتُمْ إِهَابَهَا
'If only you had taken its hide.'
They said: 'It is carrion.' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
يُطَهِّرُهَا الماء والقَرَظُ
'Water and qaraz (pods of a species of acacia used for tanning) purify it.'"
Similarly, the hadith of the sheep belonging to the freed slave of Maymunah (ra), narrated by Muslim: "Why did they not take its hide, tan it, and benefit from it?"
c. At-Tirmidhi narrated from Ibn Abbas who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
أَيُّمَا إِهَابٍ دُبِغَ فَقَدْ طَهُرَ
"Whichever hide is tanned has become pure."
Abu Isa said: "The hadith of Ibn Abbas is hasan sahih."
These evidences show that tanning the hide of the carrion of an edible animal makes it pure and permissible to use. Thus, the hide of the carrion of an edible animal is an exception to the prohibition of benefiting from carrion mentioned in the hadith: "Do not benefit from carrion in any way."
3. Skins of animals whose meat is not edible:
Scholars have differed greatly with many branches regarding the ruling on benefiting from the skins of animals whose meat is not edible. The view I prefer is the prohibition of benefiting from the skins of all animals whose meat is not edible. This is because of the Prophet's ﷺ prohibition: "Do not benefit from carrion in any way." Benefiting from the skins of non-edible animals usually occurs after their death. Carrion is impure and its skin is impure because the Prophet ﷺ said regarding the carrion of an edible animal: "If only you had taken its hide." They said: "It is carrion." He said: "Water and qaraz purify it," which indicates the impurity of the skin of carrion.
It cannot be said that the skins of the carrion of non-edible animals are purified by tanning based on the general saying ﷺ: "Whichever hide is tanned has become pure," or the hadith about the dead sheep. This is because these hadiths, although they could be general regarding the purification of any hide through tanning, are specified (makhsus) to the hide of the carrion of edible animals. The hadiths concern the skin of a sheep, and it was mentioned in a hadith: "Then indeed, its tanning is its slaughter." This concept, by way of dalalat al-tanbih (signification of notice), indicates that tanning purifies like slaughter purifies. Since slaughter only applies to what is edible, the purification by tanning only applies to the skin of the carrion of what is edible. Thus, the generality remains within the subject itself, which is the purification of the skin of the carrion of edible animals and not something else. Therefore, these hadiths do not include the skins of other carrion. Accordingly, the skins of the carrion of non-edible animals are impure and are not purified by tanning or anything else, and it is prohibited to benefit from them.
4. Skins of fish, whales, and other sea carrion:
It is permissible to benefit from the skins of fish, whales, and all sea carrion based on the evidences we provided regarding the bones of sea carrion: "Two types of dead meat have been permitted for us: fish and locusts," "Its water is pure and its dead meat is permissible," and "Eat the provision that Allah has brought forth..." This includes the entire sea animal—bone, meat, skin, and otherwise—and indicates its purity and the permissibility of benefiting from it.
Third: The ruling on using animal parts in the manufacture of necklaces, bracelets, prayer beads, utensils, and the like:
Based on the details mentioned above, the answer to your question regarding the use of animal parts and limbs in making necklaces, bracelets, prayer beads, etc., is as follows: If it is permissible to benefit from the part of the animal according to the details above, then it is permissible to use it in manufacturing those goods. However, if it is not permissible to benefit from that part of the animal as explained above, then it is not permissible to use it in manufacturing those goods. Such goods would be impure if made from the part of an impure animal from which it is forbidden to benefit, and benefiting from those goods would be prohibited due to their impurity.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
05 Rabi’ al-Akhir 1442 AH 20/11/2020 CE
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