Please clarify for us the Islamic ruling on the fat of cows and sheep: is it forbidden for humans, even though many people eat this fat?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : I welcome Shaykh Muhammad. Welcome.
The Shaykh : Welcome to you.
The questioner : Your Eminence, this listener is from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Qasim Nimr al-Khalifa says: Your Eminence, please clarify for us the Islamic ruling on whether the fat of cows and sheep is forbidden for humans, even though many people eat this fat. I ask Your Eminence to explain this in detail. May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. The fat of cows and sheep, and their meat, is all lawful, by the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[Al-Ma'idah 5:1] And what is recited to us is His saying, the Exalted: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3] There is no difference between their meat and their fat, because the Islamic Shari'ah, praise be to Allah, is a consistent Shari'ah that is not contradicted. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has not forbidden a part of an animal while leaving another part permissible; rather, the animal is either entirely lawful or entirely forbidden. This is unlike the Children of Israel, regarding whom Allah, the Exalted, said: [Al-An'am 6:146] And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, rebuked those who forbid something from the livestock or other things that He has made lawful. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: [An-Nahl 16:116-117] And He, the Exalted, said: [Al-A'raf 7:32].
And by this, it is known that the hadith narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the meat of cows is a disease and their milk is a cure is a false hadith with no validity. For it is not possible that Allah would make lawful for His servants something that is a harmful disease for them. Rather, the principle of the Islamic Shari'ah is that whatever is harmful is forbidden and not permissible for a Muslim to consume, by the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[An-Nisa 4:29] And in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: Sunan Ibn Majah 2340Da'if (Darussalam). Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Welcome to you.
The questioner : Your Eminence, this listener is from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Qasim Nimr al-Khalifa says: Your Eminence, please clarify for us the Islamic ruling on whether the fat of cows and sheep is forbidden for humans, even though many people eat this fat. I ask Your Eminence to explain this in detail. May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. The fat of cows and sheep, and their meat, is all lawful, by the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is recited to you
أُحِلَّت لَكُم بَهيمَةُ الأَنعامِ إِلّا ما يُتلى عَلَيكُمProhibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars
حُرِّمَت عَلَيكُمُ المَيتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحمُ الخِنزيرِ وَما أُهِلَّ لِغَيرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ وَالمُنخَنِقَةُ وَالمَوقوذَةُ وَالمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطيحَةُ وَما أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ إِلّا ما ذَكَّيتُم وَما ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِAnd to those who are Jews We prohibited every animal of uncloven hoof; and of the cattle and the sheep We prohibited to them their fat, except what adheres to their backs or the entrails or what is joined with bone. [By] that We repaid them for their injustice. And indeed, We are truthful.
وَعَلَى الَّذينَ هادوا حَرَّمنا كُلَّ ذي ظُفُرٍ وَمِنَ البَقَرِ وَالغَنَمِ حَرَّمنا عَلَيهِم شُحومَهُما إِلّا ما حَمَلَت ظُهورُهُما أَوِ الحَوايا أَو مَا اختَلَطَ بِعَظمٍ ذلِكَ جَزَيناهُم بِبَغيِهِم وَإِنّا لَصادِقونَ(116) And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, "This is lawful and this is unlawful," to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed. (117) [It is but] a brief enjoyment, and they will have a painful punishment.
وَلا تَقولوا لِما تَصِفُ أَلسِنَتُكُمُ الكَذِبَ هذا حَلالٌ وَهذا حَرامٌ لِتَفتَروا عَلَى اللَّهِ الكَذِبَ إِنَّ الَّذينَ يَفتَرونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الكَذِبَ لا يُفلِحونَ * مَتاعٌ قَليلٌ وَلَهُم عَذابٌ أَليمٌSay, "Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?" Say, "They are for those who believe during the worldly life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection."
قُل مَن حَرَّمَ زينَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتي أَخرَجَ لِعِبادِهِ وَالطَّيِّباتِ مِنَ الرِّزقِ قُل هِيَ لِلَّذينَ ءامَنوا فِي الحَياةِ الدُّنيا خالِصَةً يَومَ القِيامَةِAnd by this, it is known that the hadith narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the meat of cows is a disease and their milk is a cure is a false hadith with no validity. For it is not possible that Allah would make lawful for His servants something that is a harmful disease for them. Rather, the principle of the Islamic Shari'ah is that whatever is harmful is forbidden and not permissible for a Muslim to consume, by the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.
وَلا تَقتُلوا أَنفُسَكُم إِنَّ اللَّهَ كانَ بِكُم رَحيمًاIt was narrated from 'Ubadah bin Samit that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ruled: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.”
لا ضرر ولا ضرارThe questioner : May Allah bless you.