Ihab (the hide of an animal, its purity and tanning, and the rules on killing or selling animals for their hides)

الإهاب

Ihab is lexically the hide of cattle, sheep or wild animals before it is tanned, and the jurists use it more widely to include human skin. ¹² The hide of an animal lawfully slaughtered is pure by agreement if the animal is edible; for animals not eaten the views differ: the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that slaughter does not purify their hide, while the Hanafis and Malikis hold that it does. ² The hide of a carcass is impure and may not be used before tanning; after tanning there are seven views, differing over the pig, the dog and the inner side of the hide. ²³ The jurists differ on killing or selling a non-edible animal for its hide: the Shafi'is forbid it, and the Hanafis and Malikis allow it. ³⁴ All agree that flaying a slaughtered animal before its soul has left is disliked. ⁴

Definition

Ihab is lexically the hide of cattle, sheep or wild animals before it is tanned. The jurists use it more widely, to include human skin. ¹²

Hide of a lawfully slaughtered animal

If the animal may be eaten, its hide is pure by agreement. ²
For animals not eaten: the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that slaughter does not purify the hide, citing the prohibition of sitting on the hides of beasts of prey; the Hanafis and Malikis hold that slaughter purifies it, on the saying that tanning is the slaughter of a hide. ²
The pig is impure in itself by agreement, and the dog for the Shafi'is and Hanbalis; slaughter does not purify them. ²

Hide of a carcass

It is impure by agreement and may not be used before tanning, except that al-Zuhri allowed use before tanning. ²
After tanning there are seven views: none is purified by tanning; all are purified, even the dog and the pig; all edible animals are purified and others are not; only the outside is purified and not the inside. ²³

Killing or selling an animal for its hide

The Shafi'is forbid killing an animal not eaten for its hide, and forbid its sale. ³⁴
The Hanafis and Malikis allow hunting or slaughtering such an animal for the benefit of its hide, and allow its sale. ³⁴

Flaying a slaughtered animal

All the jurists agree that flaying a slaughtered animal before its soul has left is disliked, following the prohibition of it. ⁴

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3591

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3592

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3593

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3594

Anam (livestock: camels, cattle and sheep, and their rulings)

Anam is lexically the plural of ni'm, meaning camels, cattle and sheep, and most often camels. For the jurists, the anam are camels, cattle and sheep, so called for the abundance of God's favour in them: growth, birth, milk, wool, hair and general benefit. Zakat is due on livestock once it reaches the nisab, by agreement of the jurists. Only livestock may be offered as hadi, sacrifice or aqiqa, and the best hadi is a camel, then a cow, then a sheep. Livestock may be slaughtered and eaten in the sanctuary and outside it, and during ihram, unlike game; the best method is to slaughter camels by nahr and cattle and sheep by dhabh.