Q:) A brother mentioned to me that Mufti Taqi
Sahib has written a fatwa on the permissibility of using collagen
(derived from cattle) in ingredients and as casing on products such as
sausages.
Can you please advise me of where and how I may be able to obtain a copy
of it. Your help will be greatly appreciated?
A:) There are two issues about these casings: the first issue
is whether it can be held as pure (Ta'hir). After studying the processes
it is quite clear that the hides used for production of these casings
become pure after passing through the process which includes lime
treatment for 4/5 days. The principle of Shariah is that the hide of an
animal, even not slaughtered in the Islamic way, is purified by the
process of Dabaghah (tanning). Allama Kassani writes:
This principle is agreed upon by all the juristic schools of the
Muslims. Therefore, if these casings are used merely to preserve the
contents of halal beef in a particular shape but the consumer eats it
after removing the casing, it is halal without any doubt.
The second issue is whether it is halal to eat the casing itself. The
answer to this question is that according to the majority view of the
Muslim jurists it is not permissible to eat the hide of an
un-slaughtered animal even after tanning. However, a large number of
Sha'fie jurists as well as a small number of Hanafi jurists have allowed
to eat it after tanning. But this minority view could not find favor
with the latter day fuqaha who are of the firm opinion that it is not
permissible for oral use and therefore the minority view should not be
followed.
One may argue that the process mentioned in your question transforms the
hide into something else and therefore it should be declared a new
product having no prohibited element. But this argument does not seem to
be correct because the Collagen is a form of protein which is the major
ingredient and it remains unchanged; merely the change of shape or the
process of purification does not seem to transform the nature of the
hide.
The net result in brief is that the casing made of an un-slaughtered
animal's hide after the process becomes pure and does not affect the
beef content in it. If a Muslim uses the food content in such a casing
after scrapping the casing it is permissible for him to eat but it is
not permissible to eat the beef with its casing. Since it is difficult
for a producer to control the consumers in this respect it seems
necessary that he must acquire casings produced by the hides of
slaughtered animals. This is my personal opinion. It will be advisable
to consult other Ulama also.
Article taken (with Thanks) from Albalagh.Net
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