Is Elephant Halal? What You Need To Know

Is elephant halal? This blog post will talk about whether elephant meat is halal or haram in Islam and what’s the reason behind it. Elephant meat is not commonly seen on a dinner table because it is so rare to find.

In some parts of the world, elephant meat, also known as bushmeat, is hunted and consumed. Elephant meat includes elephant flesh as well as other edible parts of elephants, such as their tails.

Many countries around the world have banned elephant hunting in order to protect their dwindling numbers.

Is Elephant Halal?

No, elephant is not halal. It is haram to eat elephant meat in Islam. Islamic scholars have ruled that eating elephant is forbidden for Muslims because elephants fall into the prohibited category of fanged or predatory animals.

Why Elephant Meat Is Haram?

The Shari’ah has made the majority of edible substances permissible. However, some animals possessing certain traits have been prohibited.

The famous hadith of Abdullah ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) states that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) prohibited the eating of all fanged beasts of prey, and all the birds having talons. Source

The definition given by the Ibn Nujaym (Allah have mercy on him) for a predatory animal is as follows:

A predator is every animal that would normally prey, quarry, wound, kill and transgress on other animals (or humans).

An elephant is a fanged animal; hence, it will be prohibitively disliked (makruh) to consume its meat.

Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him), whilst mentioning the list of haram animals, states that it is not permissible to eat the meat of an elephant.

Also read Is Calamari Halal? What You Need To Know

Ruling on Objects Made From Elephant Skins

The skins of animals whose meat we cannot eat, such as dogs, wolves, lions, elephants and the like, is impure (naajis), whether it is slaughtered or it dies or is killed, because even if it is slaughtered it does not become halaal and cannot be good, so it is naajis, whether it is tanned or not tanned.

This is according to the most correct opinion, because the most correct opinion is that impure skins cannot be made pure through tanning if they come from animals which we are not permitted to slaughter for food.

Conclusion

Although an elephant differs from other predatory animals in that it does not prey on other animals, it does live on them. However, because an elephant can harm, kill, and attack other animals, it possesses the characteristics of a natural predatory animal. As a result, the elephants received the same ruling as natural predators.