Excerpted from the book: Aḥkām wa Masā’il – In the Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah by Shaykh Mubashar Ahmad Rabbani
We have heard that cow’s milk is a cure, its butter is medicine, and its meat is disease — is there any authentic ḥadīth to support this, or is it just hearsay?
Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله mentioned a ḥadīth in his renowned work Silsilah al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥah:
“The milk of the cow is a cure, its fat (ghee) is a medicine, and its meat is a disease.”
— [Silsilat al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥah, ḥadīth no. 1533]
After citing this narration, Shaykh al-Albānī clarifies:
While the ḥadīth does exist, and it forms the basis of the statement in question, the context must be understood:
✔ The narration is authentic, as recorded by Shaykh al-Albānī.
✔ Cow’s milk is beneficial, its ghee is medicinal, and its meat can be harmful in certain cases — particularly for those prone to dryness.
✔ However, this is not a general prohibition, and cow meat remains ḥalāl, as the Prophet ﷺ himself offered it in sacrifice.
❖ Question:
We have heard that cow’s milk is a cure, its butter is medicine, and its meat is disease — is there any authentic ḥadīth to support this, or is it just hearsay?
❖ Answer:
Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله mentioned a ḥadīth in his renowned work Silsilah al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥah:
“The milk of the cow is a cure, its fat (ghee) is a medicine, and its meat is a disease.”
— [Silsilat al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥah, ḥadīth no. 1533]
✿ Analysis by Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله:
After citing this narration, Shaykh al-Albānī clarifies:
- The Prophet ﷺ sacrificed a cow on behalf of one of his wives, indicating that consuming cow meat is not prohibited.
- This action either served to demonstrate its permissibility, or it may have been that no other animal was available at the time.
- Otherwise, if cow meat was inherently harmful in all contexts, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not have offered it as a sacrifice for seeking nearness to Allah.
❖ Clarification Regarding the Meaning:
While the ḥadīth does exist, and it forms the basis of the statement in question, the context must be understood:
- Cow meat is known to cause dryness (yubūsah) in the body.
- The Arabs of that time were already susceptible to such dryness due to their climate and lifestyle.
- Thus, for them, consuming cow meat might have led to excess dryness, which could result in health issues — and hence, it was referred to as “a disease” in a relative and contextual sense, not as a universal prohibition.
Conclusion:
✔ The narration is authentic, as recorded by Shaykh al-Albānī.
✔ Cow’s milk is beneficial, its ghee is medicinal, and its meat can be harmful in certain cases — particularly for those prone to dryness.
✔ However, this is not a general prohibition, and cow meat remains ḥalāl, as the Prophet ﷺ himself offered it in sacrifice.
