Question: Could you please list the animals that are Islamically edible and inedible?
ANSWER
About land-animals and birds, it is stated in hadith-i sharifs:
(Predatory animals with canine teeth and birds that prey on with their talons are not edible.) [Muslim]
Inedible land-animals are as follows:
Predators that prey on their victims with their canine teeth are inedible, e.g., pigs, wolves, bears, lions, tigers, leopards, pandas, panthers, cheetahs, jaguars, pumas, squirrels, sables, weasels, skunks, gorillas, types of monkey [chimpanzees, baboons, gibbons, orangutangs],hyenas, elephants, dogs, cats, beavers, badgers, lynxes, foxes, weasels. [According to the Shafi’i Madhhab, foxes, hyenas, sables, squirrels, and weasels are edible.]
Edible land-animals are as follows:
Giraffes, kangaroos, and rabbits are edible. Just as it is permissible to consume domestic sheep and goats, domestic cattle [water buffalos, cows, and bulls] and domestic camels, so it is permissible to consume their wild counterparts. For example, buffalo and bison are wild cattle. Llama is a wild camel. That is, they are edible. Mountain goats, deer, gazelles, antelopes, which are considered wild goats, are edible. Wild sheep are edible, too. Eating domestic horses is makruh tanzihi. The pony is a breed of horse. The meat of horses is halal in the madhhabs Shafi’i and Hanbali, but haram in the Maliki Madhhab. Wild horses are edible. Domestic donkeys are inedible. Zebras, which are considered wild donkeys, are edible.
Inedible birds are as follows:
Birds that prey on their victims with their talons and eat carrion are inedible, such as kites, eagles, kestrels, ravens, vultures, carrion crows, bats, sparrow hawks, hawks, seagulls, storks, flamingoes, and bald ibises.
Pests are inedible, too:
Pests, small animals that make their homes in soil, are not permitted (haram). Such pests as mice, scorpions, types of the snake, lizards, crocodiles, ticks, salamanders, frogs, turtles, snails, bees, houseflies, moles, hedgehogs, bedbugs, lice, and fleas are inedible. [In the madhhabs of Shafi’i and Maliki, hedgehogs and lizards can be eaten.]
Edible birds are as follows:
Birds that are not disgusting, do not eat carrion, and do not prey on their victims with their talons are edible.
Magpies, doves, nightingales, canaries, parakeets, partridges, pheasants, pigeons, quails, peafowls, swallows, owls, parrots, cranes, goldfinch, goldcrests, chaffinches, sparrows, and starlings are permitted. Eating hoopoes is makruh. [In the madhhabs of Hanafi and Hanbali, the seagull is inedible. In the Maliki Madhhab, seagulls and herons are edible. In the Shafi’i Madhhab, swallows, peafowls, hoopoes, and parrots are inedible, but such seabirds as gulls and herons are edible.]
Blackbirds, wild ducks, wild geese, swans, which are considered wild counterparts of poultry, are edible. Ostriches, which are considered wild turkeys, are edible.
Sea animals:
All seafood is edible according to the madhhabs, except for the Hanafi Madhhab. In the Hanafi Madhhab, no seafood is edible unless it is in the shape of a fish. For example, octopi, squids, cuttlefish, seahorses, walruses, jellyfish, crabs, mussels, oysters, crawfish, shrimps, and sea snails are inedible. Salmon, turbots, dolphins, whales, eels, catfish, and sharks are edible.
Question: Is it permissible to eat that animal which has eaten impurity (najasah)?
ANSWER
If the meat of that animal which has eaten dung or any impurity smells, then it is makruh to eat it. If it is fed religiously pure food and the smell is removed, then it is permissible to eat it.
If a chicken, sheep, or cow has eaten impurity, then it is makruh to immediately slaughter and eat it. It is necessary to quarantine the chicken for 3 days, the sheep for 4 days, the cow and the camel for 10 days. That is, they should be fed food that is not religiously impure. In the Shafi’i Madhhab, the camel is quarantined for 40 days, the cow for 30 days, the sheep for 7 days, and the chicken for 3 days.
Question: Which parts are inedible of those animals that are Islamically edible?
ANSWER
Seven parts of every edible animal are Islamically inedible. These seven parts are flowing blood, the organ for urination, testicles, glands, gallbladder, the female animal’s vagina, and the urinary bladder.
Question: Is it permissible to eat those animals that have been killed without jugulation?
ANSWER
If a land animal is killed, instead of jugulation, by way of stabbing, hitting over its forehead, choking, applying medicine or electric shocks, then it is considered carrion. It is haram to eat it.
Question: Are rennet and milk taken from a dead animal religiously pure?
ANSWER
The rennet removed from their abdomens is pure if lambs have eaten nothing but sucked only milk. The milk is pure too that comes out from the udders of sheep or cows that have died.
Question: If an animal which is not known whether alive or dead is jugulated, will it be edible?
ANSWER
If an animal is ill or has been stunned and if it is not known whether it is alive or not, it will be edible if it moves or if blood flows, just as the blood of a live animal does, while it is being jugulated because these are signs of life. If there is no sign of life, then it is inedible.
Question: Is it permissible to eat an edible animal that has been raped?
ANSWER
It is an act of a sadist, which is so bestial and a major sin. Such an animal should be jugulated and then burnt. It is permissible as well to eat it instead of burning it. (Fatawa-i Hindiyya, Durr-ul Mukhtar, Se’adet-i Ebediyye)
