Whether donkey meat is halal or not? is a widely discussed question that now needs to be addressed in detail. Some of us get to hear that it’s halal, whereas, we see people arguing in the gathering that it’s haram or makruh.
As it’s hard to judge what’s true and what’s not especially when the people around you have different views. Since you are tired of receiving unsatisfactory answers, we are here to help you out.
In this brief post as you have judged, we would be discussing if the donkey is halal or not with authentic references. So, let’s not beat about the bush and come to the point. Starting with the most widely asked question;
Is Donkey Halal?
For the record, donkey meat is not halal. It was declared “Haram” several thousand years back by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), a social-political leader and the founder of the religion Islam. As it is said by the most beloved Prophet, Muslims across the globe take donkey meat haram even though it meets all the requirements of halal animals.
We understand the terms “Halal” and “Haram” are quite new to the non-muslims, it would be better to briefly discuss these two first as we would use these terms quite a lot in this post.
Both “Halal” and “Haram” are Arabic words. The term halal means permissible whereas, by haram we mean forbidden.
So, the animals that are declared halal can be eaten(if slaughtered in a permissible way) whereas, the animals that are considered haram can not be cooked and eaten even if the animal is slaughtered by cutting the jugular vein, carotid artery, and windpipe.
Donkey Milk is also not halal in Islam. Conditions and Ahadith are the same on meat. However, some believe that the milk of domesticated donkeys is haram.
Some religious scholars take it as “Makruh” as well
It’s true that today’s Muslims have failed to understand our religion as it should be understood, it’s one of the reasons why we get different views from religious scholars. If we see it from this point of view, even Muslim scholars have different views, some call wild or pet donkey meat haram whereas the others take it as “Makruh”.
The term Makruh means ” not forbidden but disliked”. So, as per their claim, donkey meat is not forbidden, it can be eaten but this act would be disliked by Allah.
Sahih Al Bukhari, Sunan Ibn Majah, Sunan Abu Dawood, authentic Islamic books, have several hadiths where Muslims are forbidden to eat donkeys
As mentioned above, Sahih Al Bukhari is an authentic Islamic book that is compiled to guide on all important matters through a collection of major hadiths. So, this reliable source has the following hadiths regarding this matter;
”Sayyiduna Anas Ibn Maalik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a person came to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) and said: “The donkeys have been (slaughtered and) eaten.” Another man came and said: “The donkeys have been destroyed.” The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) ordered a caller to announce to the people: “Allah and His Messenger forbid you to eat the meat of donkeys, for it is impure.” Thus the pots were turned upside down while the (donkey’s) meat was boiling in them.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5208)”
”Sayyiduna Abd Allah Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) forbade the meat of donkeys on the day of the battle of Khaibar.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5202) Sayyiduna Abu Tha’laba (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) prohibited the eating of donkey’s meat. (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5205)”
”Sayyiduna Khalid Ibn al-Walid (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) forbade the meat of horses, mules and donkeys.” (Musnad Ahmad, 4/89, Sunan Abu Dawood, no: 3790, Sunan Nasaai and Sunan Ibn Maajah)”
Our knowledge is limited but from the all above-mentioned hadith references, it can be guessed that eating donkey meat is prohibited and Muslims are forbidden eat the said animal. As all these books are known for their authenticity, our readers can trust the above-mentioned hadith without any doubts.
Read more about Is Horse Meat Halal?
Our view
This detailed research has made us think that donkeys are Haram(forbidden), not Makruh(not forbidden but disliked). If the authentic hadith books have called it “forbidden” we should take it the same way even if it’s rich in iron and has low fat and cholesterol content. And even if we call it the best alternative to red meat!
Summary
Donkey meat is not halal it is rather haram which means forbidden. Halal and Haram are Arabic terms, the word halal means permissible whereas the word haram means forbidden.
It is narrated in Sahih Al Bukhari “Sayyiduna Abd Allah Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) forbade the meat of donkeys on the day of the battle of Khaibar.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5202) Sayyiduna Abu Tha’laba (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) prohibited the eating of donkey’s meat.“(Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5205)
