The Book of Foods

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah sanctify his soul—was asked whether eating horse meat is lawful.

He answered:

Praise be to Allah. It is lawful according to the majority of scholars, including al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad, the two leading disciples of Abū Hanīfah, and most jurists of the hadith tradition. It is authentically reported in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

“forbade donkey meat in the year of Khaybar and permitted horse meat.”

It is also authentically reported that

“they slaughtered a horse during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and its meat was eaten.”

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked whether a mule born of a wild ass and a horse may be eaten.

He answered:

If a mule is born of a horse and a wild ass, or of a she-ass and a stallion, it is permissible to eat it. The same applies to every animal born of two parents whose meat is lawful. What is forbidden is an animal born of one lawful parent and one unlawful parent, such as a mule one of whose parents is a domestic donkey; a predatory beast born of a hyena and a wolf; or the isbār, born of a wolf and a male hyena. And Allah knows best.