Milk (laban), fiqh rulings

Laban, in lexicon, is a white liquid in female humans and animals, a collective noun in plural alban; lubaʾ is the first of it after birth; the sap of a tree is also called laban ¹.

The milk of a living animal that may be eaten, such as cattle and sheep, is pure by agreement, on the verse of the surah of the Bee (verse 66) without quoting it here ¹. The jurists differ on other milk according to whether the animal may be eaten: mare's milk is pure and lawful for the Shafi'is, Hanbalis, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, while for the Malikis it follows the flesh and is impure ^{1 2}. Donkey's milk is impure for the Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis, since the donkey may not be eaten ^{2 3}. The milk of a living human is pure by agreement; the milk of a dead human is pure for the Hanafis, Shafi'is and the apparent Hanbali view, and impure or pure for the Malikis ³. The milk of a dead animal that may be eaten is impure for the Malikis, Shafi'is and the apparent Hanbali view, and pure for Abu Hanifa ².

Selling milk after it is milked is lawful by agreement. Selling it in the udder is forbidden by most Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis, because its description and quantity are unknown and the milk mixes, and on Ibn Abbas's report forbidding the sale of wool on a sheep or milk in an udder; the Malikis allow selling the milk of named ewes for a stated season ^{3 4}. Selling a woman's milk is allowed by the Malikis, Shafi'is and the sounder Hanbali view, while the Hanafis and a group of Hanbalis do not allow it, since milk is not property; Ahmad disliked it ^{4 5}.

The Shafi'is and the sounder Hanbali view allow salam in milk, with the animal's kind, breed and pasture stated; it may be measured or weighed. Ahmad allowed it when measured or weighed. Sour milk is not valid for the Shafi'is, except buttermilk without water; the Hanbalis allow it even with a little water. The Malikis allow it, and the Hanafi reports differ ^{5 6}.

The Shafi'is, the Malikis in one view and a Hanbali narration hold that one who passes another's flock and is not in need may not milk it without the owner's leave, on the hadith of Ibn Umar that no one may milk another's flock without leave ^{5 6}. Another narration of Ahmad, and a Maliki view, allows him to milk and drink without carrying any away, on the hadith of Samura about asking leave, and calling three times if no one answers ⁶. Ibn Hajar reports that many of the early scholars allowed eating and drinking in any case ⁶; the needy may take it by agreement among the Malikis ⁶.

Milk falls under riba, so one kind may not be exchanged for another except equal for equal and hand to hand. The Hanafis, the sounder Shafi'i view and a Hanbali narration hold that milk comes in kinds, sheep and goats one kind and cattle and buffalo another, so cow's milk may be exchanged for sheep's milk unequally. The Malikis, a second Hanbali narration and the weaker Shafi'i view hold that all milk is one kind ⁶.