Carrion (mayta) and the rulings on dead animals

In the lexicon, carrion (mayta) is what dies of its own accord. In law it is an animal that dies without a valid slaughter (tadhkiya), and it may also result from a human act that was not a valid slaughter. In law it also covers a limb cut from a living animal. ¹

A slaughtered animal (mudhakka) is one properly slaughtered, and is the opposite of carrion in being lawful to eat. The strangled, the beaten to death, the fallen from height or into a well, and the gored are all narrower than carrion. What is slaughtered on a stone altar and what a beast of prey has eaten are counted as carrion in law. ^{1 2 3}

The jurists agree that eating carrion is forbidden in ease and choice. Al-Razi held the prohibition agreeable to reason, since the blood stays in the veins of a dead animal, rots and does harm. Ibn al-Qayyim explained that proper slaughter removes the blood and the foul residues. ^{3 4}

The jurists allow carrion under compulsion or necessity, and define necessity in three ways: a certain or probable fear of death (the Malikis, in the well-known view); fear of death, a grave illness, a prolonged illness or weakness that stops walking (the Shafi'is and Hanbalis); and fear of the loss of life or of a limb (the Hanafis). ^{4 5}

Three views exist. Eating is obligatory, the view of most Hanafis, of a Maliki and a Shafi'i (the sounder view) and of the Hanbalis (the sound view); one who refuses and dies is sinful. It is permitted, the view of Abu Yusuf, Sahnun, al-Shirazi and a Hanbali opinion; it is recommended, the view of some Hanbalis. ^{5 7}

Most jurists allow only enough to keep the soul in the body. The Malikis, a Shafi'i view and a Hanbali report allow eating until satiated, citing the report of Jabir ibn Samura (may God be pleased with him) about a camel that died. 'Ubayd Allah al-'Anbari allowed more than the bare minimum. ^{7 8}

If the necessity may continue, most Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis allow carrying carrion and discarding it once one is free of need. A Hanbali report forbids it. Treatment with carrion is allowed by the Hanafis and the sounder Shafi'i view, citing the report of the 'Uraynis who drank camel urine, and forbidden by the Malikis and Hanbalis, citing the report of Umm Salama that God did not place the cure of this community in what He forbade. ^{8 9}

The Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold carrion impure in itself, citing the verse on its prohibition and its description as filth. Al-Razi reports agreement on its impurity. ¹⁰

On the rennet of carrion there are three views: impure, the view of most Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis in their school; a distinction by Abu Yusuf and Muhammad between liquid and solid; and purity, the view of Abu Hanifa and a Hanbali report that Ibn Taymiyya preferred. ^{10 11}

On the milk of carrion of an edible animal, Abu Hanifa and a Hanbali report hold it pure and lawful, while most Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis and the two companions of Abu Hanifa hold it impure and unlawful. On eggs, a hard-shelled egg is pure in the Hanbali view and the sounder Shafi'i view; the Hanafis hold it pure in every case, and the Malikis impure in every case. ^{11 12}

A hide is impure before tanning, and the jurists differ on whether tanning purifies it in five views. On wool and hair, most jurists allow their use as pure, while the Shafi'is and a Hanbali report hold them impure. On bone and horn, the Shafi'is in their school, the Malikis and the Hanbalis hold them impure, while the Hanafis, Ibn Wahb and a Hanbali report that Ibn Taymiyya preferred hold them pure. ^{12 13 14}

On feeding carrion to animals there are three views: the Hanafis, Shafi'is and a Hanbali report forbid it; the Malikis and Hanbalis permit it for animals not eaten and for a trained dog or hawk. Most jurists forbid lighting with carrion fat or coating ships with it; 'Ata' allowed coating ships. ^{14 15 6}

Most jurists hold the carrion of the sea pure and lawful to eat, citing the verse on the game of the sea and the hadith on its water. They hold locust carrion pure and lawful, citing the hadith that two carrions and two bloods were made lawful for us. ^{6 16}