Eating vegetables and fruits fertilized with impurities

08/12/2011| IslamWeb

Question

Assalamu alaikum. i live in a non muslim country & please clear following doubts in relation to swine. a. In farming pig excreta has been used after composting as furtilizer.Is it permisable to consume vegitable grown in such conditions? b. Pig skin is commonly used to produce leather products.some times it is dificult to identify and discreminate from other skins(leather).Is it permisable to use these products? Jasakallak

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Fertilizing the soil with impurities is a matter of difference of opinion among the scholars ; most of them are of the view that this is permissible and that what may grow from it (impurities), like grains, vegetables and fruits, is pure and it is permissible to eat it and there is no need to wash it. The Shaafi’i School exempted the dung of dogs and pigs, and they are of the view that it is not permissible to fertilize the soil with any of them. However, other scholars, and this is the predominant opinion of the Hanbali School, are of the view that the plants and fruits that are watered or fertilized with impurities are forbidden.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen adopted the view that they are pure and lawful (to eat) as he said: “The majority of the scholars are of the view that its fruit is not forbidden because the impurity has been transformed unless obvious smell or taste of impurity remains in the fruit, in which case, it is forbidden, and this opinion is the correct opinion without doubt, i.e. what is fertilized with an impurity is not forbidden unless its smell or taste changes due to impurity." End quote.

As regards your second question, the answer is that the most preponderant opinion is our view is that if the leather of pig is tanned, it becomes pure and so it is permissible to use it like all other leather of dead animals. Therefore, it is permissible to use the products that are made of the leather of pig if it is tanned.

Allah Knows best.

 

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb