The Ruling on Eating the Nis
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Question: What is the ruling on eating the well-known animal called the nis?
Answer: The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding its ruling. Some of them permitted it, and some of them forbade it. The more correct of the two views is that it is permissible, because the original ruling for animals is permissibility, so nothing is forbidden from them except what the Shari'ah has forbidden. There is no indication in the Shari'ah that forbids this animal. It feeds on plants, like the rabbit and the gazelle, and it is not one of the carnivores with fangs, so there remains no basis for forbidding it.
The animal mentioned is a type of hedgehog, and it is called the daldal. Its skin is covered with long spines. Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) was asked about the hedgehog, so he recited the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-An'am 6:145] the verse [al-An'am: 145]. Then a shaykh present with him said: Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: . Ibn 'Umar said: If the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said that, then it is as he said.
It became clear from his words (peace and blessings be upon him)that he does not know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said anything regarding the porcupine, and it also became clear from his words that he did not believe the aforementioned Shaykh. The aforementioned hadith was weakened by al-Bayhaqi and others among the scholars of knowledge due to the obscurity of the aforementioned Shaykh.
So it is known from what we have mentioned the correctness of the view that it is permissible, and the weakness of the view that it is forbidden. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) knows best.
Answer: The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding its ruling. Some of them permitted it, and some of them forbade it. The more correct of the two views is that it is permissible, because the original ruling for animals is permissibility, so nothing is forbidden from them except what the Shari'ah has forbidden. There is no indication in the Shari'ah that forbids this animal. It feeds on plants, like the rabbit and the gazelle, and it is not one of the carnivores with fangs, so there remains no basis for forbidding it.
The animal mentioned is a type of hedgehog, and it is called the daldal. Its skin is covered with long spines. Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) was asked about the hedgehog, so he recited the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine
قُل لاَّ أَجِدُ فِي مَا أُوْحِيَ إِلَيَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلَى طَاعِمٍ يَطْعَمُهُ إِلاَّ أَن يَكُونَ مَيْتَةً أَوْ دَمًا مَّسْفُوحًا أَوْ لَحْمَ خِنزِيرٍIt is a foul thing from the foul things
إنه خبيث من الخبائثIt became clear from his words (peace and blessings be upon him)that he does not know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said anything regarding the porcupine, and it also became clear from his words that he did not believe the aforementioned Shaykh. The aforementioned hadith was weakened by al-Bayhaqi and others among the scholars of knowledge due to the obscurity of the aforementioned Shaykh.
So it is known from what we have mentioned the correctness of the view that it is permissible, and the weakness of the view that it is forbidden. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) knows best.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.