Jazakallah khair.
Syed

Interesting article, there does seem to be subtle indication though that ‘science’ is on the side of the new fatwa. I remember once speaking to a shaykh trained in hanafi fiqh from sham, about the issue of smoking being haram. The shaykh who had also learnt from the indian sub continent was quick to point out that people jump to conclusions when it comes to the legal basis of rulings and the knowledge of the ulema about developments in science and how those developments effect the original ruling. The shaykh said that in spite of all the scientific evidence that has amounted regarding the catastrophic effects of smoking, he said that after discussing with leading hanafi scholars from the sub continent, that their considering the ruling to still be makrooh(i don’t know whther thay say it is tahreemi or tanzeehi) was in awareness of the scientific developments and was in his eyes still a strongly justifiable ruling according to the principles of the hanafi madhab. In short he was trying to explain to us not to ‘knock’ those ulema or think that they are somehow ignorant of modern developments.

In light of that, i found the following extract on the issue of gelatin. You will see in the last paragraph that it would be erronous to think that the traditional fatwa on gelatin is being expressed only by those who have defficient knowledge of chemical transformation, rather there seems to be an indication of the opposite, ironically!

GELATINE
Gelatine is not a naturally occurring protein, but is derived from the fibrous protein collagen, which is the principal constituent of animal skin, bone, sinew and connective tissue. A very complex chemical procedure is undertaken to extract the gelatine from its raw stage and make it usable for consumption and otherwise. A detail follows on how gelatine is extracted from animal hides in 8 different stages to form the final product.

Raw Material

Raw materials intended for medicinal use and food production are generally skin and bone of pig or calf. Some plants use animal tendons, ligaments, bones, cartilage’s and hooves. In the case of animal hides, the prime source of gelatine, leather tanneries wash them in lime solution and chemicals are added to dissolve the hair from the surface. The hides are then sent through various machines which remove traces of meat from underneath the hide and then split the hide horizontally into a number of thin sheets. The top sheets are used in leather production as it has the grain pattern on the surface whilst the bottom layers, known as split hides, are used in gelatine production.

Chemical Treatment

Animal hides are preserved in lime solution [pH 13-14] The hides are chopped into pieces 6-8 inches in size and allowed to soak in caustic soda solution. Approximately 1% strength is used, reducing a little in the warm summer months. The soak in caustic soda lasts about 2-3 weeks which has the effect of breaking down [denaturing] the protein, enabling it to be extracted into hot water.

Washing

Following the soak, the hide pieces are pumped into special washing equipment. Acid is added to acidify the hides [pH 1.5-2.0] and then washed to remove impurities and salts for 8 hours.

Extraction

The washed hide pieces are pumped into large extraction tanks where hot water is added and temperature maintained at about 50c. The hides break down slowly in the slightly acid solution [pH 3.0-3.5] to form gelatine. This is drained off once at certain strengths and then fresh hot water is added at a higher temperature to give another extraction. 3 further extractions are made, producing gelatines of different physical properties, [e.g. setting strength and viscosity].

Purification

The gelatine solution drained from the heated hide pieces is then purified. The first stage is filtration and the final stage is through a 2 micron filter to give a solution of high clarity. The gelatine is then de-ionised in order to remove excess salts not removed during washing.

Evaporation

Following purification, the gelatine solution is evaporated in large vacuum evaporators to a strength of about 30%.

Sterilisation

Before drying, the Gelatine is sterilised to remove all bacteria. The conditions used are standard in the Food industry – 140c at 4 seconds minimum.

Drying

The Gelatine solution is chilled to make it set, and then placed in a drying tunnel for 2-3 hours. It leaves the tunnel dry, and is broken into granules for storage purposes.

Availability

Gelatine is commercially available in sheets, shreds, flakes or coarse powder. It is white or yellowish, has a slight but characteristic odour and taste and is stable in dry air but subject to microbial decomposition if moist or in solution. It is insoluble in cold water but swells and softens when immersed gradually absorbing 5 to 10 times its own mass of water. In hot water it dissolves to form a thick colloidal mucilage which forms a jelly on cooling. Gelatine varies widely on quality and is usually graded in jelly strengths.

Uses

In its raw form it is used for the treatment of brittle finger nails and other non fungal defects but proof of efficiency of such treatment is lacking. It is also used in the preparation of many pastes, throat pastilles, vaginal pessaries and rectal suppositories. Gelatine is the main ingredient in all hard and flexible capsules. Many older tablet formulations still contain gelatine as a binding agent. The most important value in therapy is as an easily digested adjuvant food-when supplemented, it is very widely used for various forms of malnutrition, gastric hyperacidity and ulcer, convalescence and general diets of the sick.

Edible Gelatine is used throughout the food industry, for example in confectionery, ice-creams, jellies, chocolates, sweets, jams, pastries, desserts, dairy products and the meat industry. It acts as a stabilising and smoothing agent in foods. Gelatine is also used in the manufacture of rubber substitutes, adhesives, cements, lithographic and printing inks, photographic plates and films, matches, sizing papers and textiles.

Islamic Law Regarding Gelatine

If the source of Gelatine is derived from a Halaal source then its usage is permissible, whilst if the source is Haraam or Mashqook [doubtful] then it will be considered Haraam. The hide matrix or gelatine protein is basically a piece of skin, which is hydrollised, washed, melted and extracted, purified, evaporated, sterilised, chilled, dried and granulated for further shelf life and easy use. Alkaline treatment tends to remove amide groups present on certain amino acid residues on the collagen protein chains resulting in a lowering of the isoelectric point and consequently an alteration not a transformation of the chemical and physical properties of the protein occurs. Despite the above method of changing a raw product into gelatine under tremendous chemical pressure still retains much of its chemical equation. The collagen triple helix structure is lost during this procedure but the resultant Gelatine product retains the original coil structure. The aspect of Tabdeel-e-Mahiyyat does not take place.

http://www.themeatrix.com/

Allahu Al’am

It is mentioned in the above article a quote “Islam is easy”.

Yes, it is every easy for me to just avoid anything which has gelatin, it is not at all difficult. I don’t do scientific research on gelatin to avoid it, I just avoid it, since it is not at all an important ingredient in our home made foods.

It is economically beneficial to eat home cooked food.
It is health wise beneficial to eat home cooked food.
It is unhealthy to eat processed food or eat at junk restaurants.
Even if I am traveling I can easily carry authentic halal food easily.

There is one more quote in the article “It has been authentically narrated that the Prophet forbade at-takalluf from the Sahabah (meaning that one is determined to find something to be Haram)”

So my question is, Is there any authentic narration that the Prophet sas allowed Sahabah to find something to be Halal when there are thousands of eatables are available. (people doing scientific research to find something REDUNDANT (gelatin) permissible or halal). Do we really need to do scientific research to find gelatin is permissible or not?

There are thousands of things and alternatives (plants, fruits, vegetables and meat) we can eat without any doubt. Then why do we need to BE RIGID and find if gelatin is permissible.

Which Hanafi scholars say that the meat of the people of the book is not permissible? I have never heard this (I could be wrong). My understanding is that the reason why many people including myself don’t eat this meat is not due to principle, but due mainly to unislamic practices in slaughtering the animals, eating maytah, mixing meats at the butcher, contamination at the restaurant, etc. Perhaps you say “hanafi” because Pakistanis and Indians tend to be more particular about this issue and they are majority hanafi…but like I said, I never knew this to be a madhab issue.

I have never known it to be anything beyond a contemporary issue which has less to do with fiqh than it has to do with the reality of things at the slaughterhouse and the butchershop.

Maybe you misunderstood what is being said. The istihaalah process is a process of changing the molecular structure be some process. This process could be as simple as boiling water or as complicated as a chemical process in a lab. At any rate istihaalah has taken place when the molecular structure of something has changed so much that it cannot be called teh original substance anymore. Here we are talking about the boiling of collagen (found in animal bone) and then putting it through a process of temperature change and often adding other ingredients to form gelatin.

The reason both cow and pigs were mentioned because they are the two most popular ways to make gelatin (while pig being more common for its being cheap). So if it was made with cow substance then it would be permissible for the majority of scholars as long as that cow was slaughtered by the people of the book. In this case istihaalah is of no consequence whether it happened or not since it is permissible in the first place. The Hanafi’s and some who follow individual scholars do not deem the meat of the people of the book Halal, but Hanafi’s do support the permissibility of something was originally impure becoming pure after the process of istihaalah thus making gelatin from pigs or cows legal.

My dear brother Salafee,

The title Salafee is oppressed by its claimants in many cases. The Hanbali madhhab is oppressed by those who confuse it with “Salafism”. The truth is that the Hanbali madhhab is just like any of the other madhhabs with some minor differences in its Ijtihad principles thus the Fiqh details. In my experience it is the best for dealing with Aqeedah because of pure submission to the clear meaning of the texts without allowing the human mind to get in. I also found it better in financial contracts because of encouraging more freedom for manmade conditions and considering cultural norms and obligations and finally, believe it or not, in encouraging the rukhas (divine exceptions) in worship. Yes it being taught as it has been from its main texts for 12 centuries.

Salafi is a word made famous recently by Saudia Arabian scholars as well as their students and Sh. Albani was was in His own class and believe it or not as a non-Arab born in Albania and raised in Syria(ra), He had a heavy influence with Ibn Baz (ra) and Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (ra) in influencing the modern reform in Saudia which is mainly based in the Fikr (thought/minhaj) of Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab al-Hanbali and the Fiqh of Ibn Taymeyyah Al-Hanbali who strayed from the madhhab in about %15 of his ijtihads. If you read the collection of the books by the two you could become highly aware of what is called Salafi today if not a pro at it. The problem is that this is not Salafi. It is focus on two scholars one who was centuries after the Salaf (although no doubt on the level of the best of the Khalaf) and then a relatively recent thinker and their interpretation and leanings as to what was the Salaf. That being said, I don’t think you would be to far off as both were great men who had a great understanding of Islam, but in my own opinion many people don’t understand the context under which some of their intricacies of harshness happened in and making that harshness directed toward anyone who doesn’t agree with the those who are following (taqleed) these two shaikhs. I find that very unwise and imbalanced in approach. And the last thing it is is SALAFI, it is bigotry based on ignorance stemmed in a lack of true studying and blindly following a few scholars and a few books compared to the thousands of scholars and millions of books this Ummah has produced from the east to the west. The vast majority of which took from, of course… the Salaf.

Long story short the Hanbali madhhab and its true followers are much more comprehensively following and understanding the Salaf than your average modern “Salafi” claimant.

And Allah knows best

May Allah unite the ummah, ameen