Question

Assalamualaikum,

I started working as an agent with my partner who has decades of experience in this field where we connect real buyers with genuine sellers and gets a commission from the seller once the deal is done...

We are arranging skins from non-Muslim countries like Brazil, Argentina, etc... Buyers purchase raw skins through us and make them tanned and finished leather for shoes, upholstery, etc. As I know, Tanned leather is halal but here, it's going to be tanned in the future. While we are making a deal, it is raw skin, we don't know whether it is slaughtered in an Islamic way or not. So acting as a mediator in this business halal or not?

Answer 1

Ref. No. 2111/44-2186

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful

The answer to your question is as follows:

The animals slaughtered according to the Shariah method got tanned and are pure, and the animals slaughtered in the non-Shariah ways must be tanned to get purified. Until they are purified, their sale is not permissible. If the people, from where and whom you buy the skins tell you that it is impure then it is not allowable to sell it, but if it is not known at all and no major guess can be made, then it is considered to be pure. It will be permitted to act as an intermediary in buying and selling it and your earnings will be lawful.

All kinds of skins except pigs’ can be sold after tanning, just as it is tanned with drugs and clay, it can also be tanned by just sprinkling salt. If you don't tan the skins at all, they would be at high risk of damage.

And Allah knows best

Darul Ifta

Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband