Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Burhan Bhai,

salam Alaikum,

We all know and understand that consuming pig or any of its products is haraam. In normal situations, Is this law only related to eating or consuming? What if a person is buying or selling products made of pig? Can one use pig leather which is tanned through chemical processes to remove its impurities? Can one use shaving brush made of pig hair cleaned chemically? A person is using a shoe with pig leather lining does he remain ‘tahir’ (paak), can he offer salah / namaz taking them out? Does one remain ‘tahir’ touching such chemically cleaned products?

Most of the people I know excuse themselves by saying that they don’t know how to distinguish a pig skin, is this excuse valid? What does Islam / Shariah demands from us regarding this ignorance? Is using such products a sin? Is there any kind of worldly punishment for using such haram things as is in the case of indulging into other haram acts? Will there be any punishment in the here-after? Isn’t it obligatory upon us to acquire knowledge of all the haram things / acts so that we can easily identify them and stay away?

Kindly elaborate.

May Allah guide & bless all of us to stay away from all haram things and acts and save us from the hell fire, Amin!

Ma’assalam,

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Using Products of Swine

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Q-1: In normal situations, Is this law only related to eating or consuming?

Amongst all the animals which have been forbidden as food to the believers in Islam, in the opinion of the four majors schools of thought only the dog and swine and all their related products (meat, leather, hair, etc.) are considered ‘najis’ or impure.

Although the meat of the canine animals like the lion, cheetah, tigers, etc. are considered haraam, their related products are not considered ‘najis’ or impure and the believers are allowed to use them; but all products from the swine and the dog are considered ‘najis’ and impure and thus forbidden for the believers to use.

Q-2: What if a person is buying or selling products made of pig?

The majority of the scholars are of the opinion that the buying, selling or earning any money from the trading of any swine products would not be halaal income for the believers.

Q-3: Can one use pig leather which is tanned through chemical processes to remove its impurities?

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.15

Tanning purifies the skin and the fur of a dead animal. This is based on the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, in which the Prophet said, "If the animal's skin is tanned, it is purified." Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

In light of the above hadith whereby the Messenger of Allah (saws) declared the skin of animals which had undergone the process of tanning as being pure for the believers to use; there is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars in Islam regarding the inclusion of the skin of swine.

Amongst the four major schools of thought Imam Maalik and Imam Abu Hanifah say the hadith is general without any exception; thus the tanned skin of the swine would be considered pure. But Imam Hanbal and Imam Shafei are of the opinion that the swine has been declared ‘najis’ in its entirety, and thus even if its skin is tanned it would not be considered pure.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.267 Narrated by An Numan bin Bashir

The Prophet (saws) said "Both the ‘halaal’ (legal) and the ‘haraam’ (illegal) things are obvious, and in between them are (suspicious) doubtful matters. So whoever forsakes those doubtful things lest he may commit a sin, will definitely avoid what is clearly illegal; and whoever indulges in these (suspicious) doubtful things bravely, is likely to commit what is clearly illegal. Sins are Allah's Hima (i.e. private pasture) and whoever pastures (his sheep) near it, is likely to get in it at any moment."

Can one use shaving brush made of pig hair cleaned chemically? A person is using a shoe with pig leather lining does he remain ‘tahir’ (paak), can he offer salah / namaz taking them out? Does one remain ‘tahir’ touching such chemically cleaned products?

If one has knowledge that the product is made of swine, one should fear Allah and abstain from it. If one does not have prior knowledge and uses any swine product in ignorance without any intention of transgressing the boundaries of Allah, Allah Subhanah is indeed the Most Merciful and Oft-Forgiving.

If one has perchance touched something which is ‘najis’ or impure, one should wash that part of the body; touching of an impurity does not invalidate one’s wudu, and washing the part of the body which the impurity has touched would suffice.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother and sincere well wisher in Islam,

Burhan