animal life and plant life. Animal life is characterized by sensation and voluntary movement, while plant life is characterized by growth and nourishment.

His words,

“Forbidden to you are dead animals,”

apply only to that which has lost animal life, not plant life. By the consensus of Muslims, trees and crops do not become impure when they dry out. Allah Most High has said:

“Allah has sent down water from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after its death.”

And He has said:

“Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its death.”

Thus, by the consensus of Muslims, the earth’s death does not render it impure. The dead animals that are forbidden are only those that have lost sensation and voluntary movement. Accordingly, the life of hair is of the same kind as plant life, not animal life: it grows, takes in nourishment, and lengthens like crops, but it has no sensation and does not move of its own will. It therefore possesses no animal life whose departure would cause it to die, so there is no basis for deeming it impure.

Moreover, if hair were a part of the animal, removing it while the animal is alive would not have been permitted. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about people who were fond of camel humps and the fat tails of sheep. He replied:

“Whatever is severed from an animal while it is alive is carrion.”

This was reported by Abū Dāwūd and others. The scholars unanimously agree on this ruling. If hair had the same ruling as a camel’s hump or a sheep’s fat tail, cutting it while the animal is alive would not be permissible, nor would it be pure and lawful.

Since the scholars agree that hair and wool shorn from an animal are pure and lawful, it is clear that they are not like flesh.