render pure anything except an animal whose meat is lawful to eat. Thus, if you were to slaughter a donkey, mention the name of Allah over it, and cause its blood to flow, this would not be considered ritual slaughter. Accordingly, we say: the hide of an animal whose meat is unlawful to eat—even if it was pure while alive—does not become pure through tanning.

The reason is that an animal which is pure while alive was only deemed pure because of the hardship involved in avoiding it, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “They are among those that move about among you.” This reason no longer applies after death; it therefore returns to its original state, namely impurity, and so it does not become pure through tanning.

Thus, the stronger view is that the hide of every animal which dies and whose meat is lawful to eat becomes pure through tanning. This is one of the two views of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him. He also held another view, agreeing with those who say that the hide of whatever is pure while alive becomes pure through tanning (1).

And its milk...

His statement, “And its milk”: the milk of a dead animal is impure, even if it has not changed as a result of the carcass, because it is a liquid that has come into contact with something impure and has thereby become impure—just as if some impurity had fallen into it. Otherwise, in reality, it had separated from the animal before its death. However, they said that once the animal dies, it becomes impure; thus, the milk has come into contact with something impure and consequently becomes impure.

Shaykh al-Islam chose the view that it is pure (2), based on his view that