What Parts of a Halal Animal are Haram to Eat?

Answered by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari

Question:

I was just wondering what parts of a Halal animal are impermissible to eat. I recently heard that there are certain parts of a Halal animal that remain Haram. Is this true?

Answer:

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

According to the Hanafi School of Islamic law, seven things from a Halal and lawfully-slaughtered animal cannot be eaten. The first of these seven items has been emphatically forbidden by a decisive text of the Qur’an, hence it is unlawful (haram) to consume it; whereas consuming the other six items is considered prohibitively disliked (makruh tahrim), because there is no decisive text regarding their prohibition although their prohibitive dislike is proven through non decisive texts. (See: Bada’i al-Sana’i 5/61)

The seven things are as follows:

1) Flowing Blood

The prohibition of consuming blood that flows has been proven through a decisive text of the Qur’an. Allah Most High says in the Qur’an:

“Say, I do not find, in what has been revealed to me anything [out of the cattle under discussion] prohibited for anyone who eats it, unless it be carrion, or blood that pours forth, or flesh of swine” because it is impure” or there be an animal slaughtered sinfully by invoking on it the name of someone other than Allah….” (Surah al-An’am, V: 146)

2) Penis

3) Testicles

4) Vulva (external parts of the female genitalia)

5) Glands

6) Urinary bladder

7) Gall-bladder

Allah Most High says:

“…for he allows them as lawful what is pure and makes unlawful for them filthy things …” (Surat al-A’raf, V: 157)

This verse of Surat al-A’raf signifies that “filthy things (khaba’ith)” have been prohibited by Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace). The term used in the Qur’an is “khaba’ith” which refers to things whose consumption would be detested by sound natured people. As such, the Hanafi jurists have ruled that the consumption of the above mentioned six things from a Halal animal is Makruh Tahrim, since they are of the filthy things (khaba’ith) entailed by the verse of the Qur’an.

Moreover, Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani reports from al-Awza’i, from Wasil ibn Abi Jamil that Mujahid (Allah be pleased with them all) said: “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) disliked consuming seven things from the sheep: the gall-bladder, the urinary bladder, the glands, the vulva, the penis, the testicles and the blood. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) used to like the forepart of sheep and goats.” (Kitab al-Athar, with a sound chain of narration, no: 811)

And Allah knows best

Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK