17 – Salamah ibn al-Muḥabbiq (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Tanning the hide of a carcass is what purifies it.” Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it (1).

Hadith grading
The hadith is ṣaḥīḥ (sound).
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar said in al-Talkhīṣ: It was recorded by Aḥmad (24688), Abū Dāwūd (4125), al-Nasāʾī (7/173), al-Bayhaqī (1/17), and Ibn Ḥibbān (2/291) through the chain of al-Jawn ibn Qatādah from Salamah ibn al-Muḥabbiq, and its isnād is authentic. On the same subject there is the report of Ibn ʿAbbās, traced back to the Prophet, with the wording “Tanning a hide is its purification,” related by al-Dāraquṭnī, whose root narration is found in Muslim.

It is also reported with an authentic chain from ʿĀʾishah by al-Nasāʾī (4244), al-Ṭaḥāwī (1/470), and Ibn Ḥibbān (4/105). Both al-Kattānī and al-Manāwī classified the hadith as mutawātir, noting that it comes from fourteen Companions. Al-Dāraquṭnī gathered its various chains with different wordings, concluding, “All of the chains are sound.” Imām al-Nawawī likewise deemed it authentic.

Vocabulary of the hadith
• al-Muḥabbiq: with ḍammah on the mīm, fatḥah on the ḥāʾ, a doubled bāʾ with kasrah, ending with a qāf; he belonged to the tribe of Hudhayl.
• julūd (hides): plural of jild, the membrane that covers the body.
• al-maytah: an animal that dies a natural death or in a manner not sanctioned by the Sharīʿah.