is precisely the liver and the spleen.
• ammā: a particle of specification that also carries a conditional sense. Sībawayh explained it as meaning “whatever thing there may be,” and its consequent must be introduced by the particle fa (then).
• The liver: feminine in Arabic, though it may also be treated as masculine. It is an organ situated on the right side of the abdomen beneath the diaphragm. Among its many functions, the most evident is the secretion of bile. It is an important blood reservoir, supplied through both the hepatic artery and the portal vein; the blood then leaves the liver to the inferior vena cava in regulated proportions by Allah’s wisdom and power. The blood retained in the liver is therefore exempted from the general prohibition on blood and is lawful and pure.
• The spleen: pronounced on the pattern of kitāb, with the plurals tuḥul and aṭḥilah. It lies between the stomach and the diaphragm on the left side of the abdomen, and its task is to produce blood and to destroy aged blood cells.
Accordingly, these two kinds of blood are pure and permissible, and their detailed legal discussion will appear later in the juristic commentary on the hadith, if Allah wills.
Points derived from the hadith
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The prohibition of spilled blood, inferred from the permission granted for the two kinds of blood mentioned here; the exemption of part of a thing indicates the prohibition of the remainder, and this ruling is supported by other well-known evidences.
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The prohibition of carrion, meaning any animal that dies of itself or is slaughtered in an unlawful manner.
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The liver and the spleen are both lawful to eat and ritually pure.
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The carrion of locusts and fish is pure and lawful.
The locust’s carrion refers to one that dies without human agency, perishing naturally for any reason—cold, drowning, or the like. If it is killed intentionally by a human being, its permissibility is stipulated in the texts and unanimously accepted by the ummah.
Whatever dies as a result of poisonous pesticides, however, is forbidden because of the lethal, unlawful poison it contains. Likewise, the fish’s carrion is that which is found dead, whether because of a receding tide