Fatwa ID: 03026

Answered by: Maulana Naieem Mohammed

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

I was wondering will it be permissible to wear shoes or clothes which contain materials derived from pork and other animals that are not slaughtered in a halal manner, due to these materials becoming widespread in non-Muslim lands.

The specific material was a type of glue, which was used internally on a shoe and was told by the manufacturer that it may contain swinish fat.

Answer:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh

May Allah increase you in Taqwaa and beneficial knowledge. A believer should always be in a state of readiness for salaat by keeping one’s body and clothing clean. We are allowed to use the by-products of animals in forms of clothing items as long as those items can be verified as pure.

Animal skins and other such by-products that are used in the clothing industry can be categorized as follows:

1. Animals whose meat are permissible for eating and were slaughtered according to Islamic Rites,[1] their skins and other body parts such as teeth, bones, feathers, tendons etc will all be pure and permissible for usage, either tanned or un-tanned.[2]
2. Animals whose meat are usually permitted for consumption but they were not slaughtered according to Islamic rites. The wearable by-products of these animals such as their skins, teeth, bones, tendons etc. will be permitted for use as clothing items only after complete tanning of the skins and proper drying of the other body parts[3]. The meat will still not be allowed for consumption.[4]
3. Animals whose meat are not allowed for Muslim consumption, e.g. : birds, such as eagles and falcons, and beasts of prey, such as panthers, foxes and dogs. Only the skins of these animals will be made pure for usage as clothing items if they are slaughtered according to Islamic Rites, their meat will remain impure.[5]
4. The skin or any by-products of the pig is the exception to the above rules, due to it being Impure in Essence (Najas ul ayn).[6] ^[7] It, therefore, cannot be made pure by any method.

In a nutshell, any pork by-product will not be permissible for use as any form of clothing item. However, items made from other animals will be permitted and considered pure only if the above guidelines are adhered to.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Naieem Mohammed.

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham