Horse Meat Is Halāl
By: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Evidence from Ḥadīth
Ḥaḍrat Jābir (رضي الله عنه) narrated:
“نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَوْمَ خَيْبَرَ عَنْ لُحُومِ الْحُمُرِ، وَرَخَّصَ فِي الْخَيْلِ“
“On the day of Khaybar, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the eating of donkey meat but permitted horse meat.”
[Al-Bukhārī: 4219 – Kitāb al-Maghāzī: Bāb Ghazwat Khaybar]
Scholarly Opinions
Despite this clear ḥadīth, the fuqahāʾ differed on the ruling:
- Ḥarām: Abū Ḥanīfah, Imām Mālik (رحمهم الله)
- Halāl: Imām Aḥmad, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, Abū Yūsuf (رحمهم الله)
References: Subul al-Salām 4/1824, Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh 4/2594
Related Ḥadīth: The Jallālah Animal
Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) narrated:
“نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ عَنْ أَكْلِ الْجَلَّالَةِ وَأَلْبَانِهَا“
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade eating the flesh of the Jallālah animal and drinking its milk.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd: 3216; Abū Dāwūd: 3786; Al-Nasāʾī: 4448; Al-Tirmidhī: 1825; Aḥmad: 1/226]
Meaning of “Jallālah”
Linguistically derived from jalla (to collect dung), it refers to:
“هِيَ الَّتِي تَأْكُلُ الْعَذِرَةَ مِنَ الْحَيَوَانِ“
“An animal that eats filth and impurities.”
References: Mashāriq al-Anwār p. 149, Subul al-Salām 4/1831, Lisān al-ʿArab 2/336
Condition for Permissibility
If a Jallālah animal’s filthy diet is changed and its impurity and foul smell are removed, it becomes ḥalāl again.
Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) used to confine a Jallālah chicken for three days before eating it.
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 8/151]
Conclusion: If the impurity and foul odor are removed from a Jallālah animal, its meat becomes permissible.
References: Subul al-Salām 4/1831, Fatḥ al-Bārī 9/565, Al-Mughnī 9/41, Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 2/390
