What is the ruling on placing dead animals in museums? And what is the ruling on working in those museums?
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The questioner : Another question: What is the ruling on animals that are placed in museums?
The Shaykh : It seems the question means: What is the ruling on placing them there?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Answer: Placing these animals, which are creatures of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), in museums in the form in which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created them, we see no harm in that. However, there is a matter to consider: the method of preserving them. I heard from some people in Syria, while I was researching this topic, that they said: any of these animals that are preserved and frozen to be displayed before people can only be frozen by injecting them with a specific substance. This substance spreads through the animal's body, and death gradually seeps into it, so it dies with its nerves frozen, remaining as if it were alive. If this is the method, then in my opinion it is torturing the animal and mutilating it, which is what the Lawgiver has forbidden. From this perspective, it is not permissible to engage in this work because of the torture involved, and consequently, it is not permissible to display them, because doing so assists in the preservation that is forbidden due to the torture involved. If there is another method for this process, it should be looked into, but I have not heard of any other method. Therefore, we do not see this freezing as permissible because of the torture involved.
This is what I have.
The Shaykh : It seems the question means: What is the ruling on placing them there?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Answer: Placing these animals, which are creatures of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), in museums in the form in which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created them, we see no harm in that. However, there is a matter to consider: the method of preserving them. I heard from some people in Syria, while I was researching this topic, that they said: any of these animals that are preserved and frozen to be displayed before people can only be frozen by injecting them with a specific substance. This substance spreads through the animal's body, and death gradually seeps into it, so it dies with its nerves frozen, remaining as if it were alive. If this is the method, then in my opinion it is torturing the animal and mutilating it, which is what the Lawgiver has forbidden. From this perspective, it is not permissible to engage in this work because of the torture involved, and consequently, it is not permissible to display them, because doing so assists in the preservation that is forbidden due to the torture involved. If there is another method for this process, it should be looked into, but I have not heard of any other method. Therefore, we do not see this freezing as permissible because of the torture involved.
This is what I have.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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