السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
Al-Imām Ibn Qudāmaħ رحمه الله writes:
“All skins of dead animals, irrespective of whether they have been tanned or not, are najas.
[1]
It is crucial to have a proper understanding of what is meant here by “dead animals.” What is intended are those animals that die in a situation other than the proper Islāmic method of slaughtering.
This would include animals that are slaughtered by people of other religions who do not follow the Islāmic method of slaughtering animals. This would also include animals that die an accidental or natural death without being properly slaughtered. This does not include the tanned skins of animals that are ḥalāl for consumption and are slaughtered in the proper Islāmic method, since those animals are Ṭāhir by ijmāc .
Along with a proper understanding of what is intended by “dead animals,” it also important to know what is meant by tanning. Tanning is the process of making leather from the skins of dead animals. From an Islāmic perspective, it is vital for one to know whether these tanned skins which are used to make leather goods are classified as Ṭāhir or najas. This ruling has an enormous impact on one’s daily life as everyone uses products made from leather in some form or another. Many of these leather goods (wallets, belts, jackets, shoes, etc.) are worn during Ṣalāh and affect the validity of .Ṣalāh
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“DEAD ANIMALS” BEFORE BEING TANNED
The first issue in dealing with skins of “dead animals” is that of their ruling before they have been tanned. This is najas by ijmāc based upon the following Ḥadī
th:
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said: “If the hide of an animal is tanned, it becomes
pure.”
[2]
Aḥādi
th such as the following: This opinion is further corroborated by many other
"Tanning removes its
impurity."
[3]
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“DEAD ANIMALS” AFTER BEING TANNED
The next issue in dealing with skins of “dead animals” is that of their ruling after they have been tanned. There are four opinions in regarding this issue.
THE FIRST OPINION:
The first opinion is that of al-Imām Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله. He is stating here that the hide of
all dead animals can not be made Ṭāhir
by way of tanning; regardless of what type of animal it is. This opinion has been attributed to both Imām Mālik and Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal رحمهما الله.
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[1]Al-ʿUddah Sharḥ al-ʿUmdah Volume #1 - Page #19
[2]Reported by Imām Muslim in his ṣaḥīḥ
[3]Reported by an-Nasā’ī, at-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah and al-Ḥākim in his ṣaḥīḥ