The Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him, “As for the claw, it is the knife of the Abyssinians,” raises a question. For if we were to suppose that the Abyssinians had particular blades and knives of their own, used by no one but them, would slaughter with them be valid? A thing other than a claw—even if it were iron—which they fashioned in a particular manner not made by anyone else would not thereby become exclusive to them, since people slaughter with sharp instruments everywhere. Rather, it was the Abyssinians who made their claws into knives. For this reason, they would not trim their claws, but would let them grow long, and would slaughter with them whatever could be slaughtered thereby.

Accordingly, we say that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibited the claw because it is the knife of the Abyssinians, and because it entails two harms:

First, if claws were made an instrument of slaughter, we would forgo the prescribed practice of trimming the nails, thereby contradicting the natural disposition.

Second, it resembles the claws of birds of prey, and we have been forbidden to imitate animals.

It may also be said that it entails resembling the disbelievers, since the Abyssinians at that time were disbelievers. Resembling the disbelievers is forbidden. Nor does it appear that all the Abyssinians were People of the Book; and even if they had all been People of the Book, imitating the People of the Book in matters distinctive to them is forbidden and prohibited.

The phrase “the claw” includes the nail of a human being and that of other creatures, whether attached or detached. The disagreement concerning bones has already been mentioned.

Question: What is the ruling on slaughtering with artificial teeth? If they are made of bone, then the matter is subject to the aforementioned disagreement. If they are made of something other than bone, then slaughtering with them is permissible,