Is It Permissible to Use Electronic Devices That Contain Non-halal Animal By-Products?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Is it permissible to use phones, such as an iPhone, if it is said that “LCDs are often made with animal cholesterol, and batteries and adhesives often contain gelatin?” And it is said that iPhones contain animal-derived ingredients.
If you are unsure whether it comes from pigs or other animals, would it be permissible to use it if it’s derived from animals that are permissible to eat, but if they are not slaughtered in the Halal way?
And would it still be allowed to use if it is made from animals other than pigs, which are not permissible to eat, such as donkeys, for example?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well.
Yes, it would be allowed to use if they were made from non-lslamically slaughtered animal by-products, whether internal or external, and any internal product made from a pig by-product. However, one does not need to investigate if any internal component is made from a pig by-product.
One should stick to the foundational principle; everything is pure until proven otherwise. [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair]
If you are sure that you own a leather product made from pig, if it is worn or carried, get rid of it and do not pray with it. Ignore it.
As for if any external product (the front or back of a mobile phone) is made from a pig by-product, then one should not buy or use such products.
The pig and all its by-products are impure. It is impermissible to use such items. [Ibn ’Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Nahlawi, al-Durar al-Mubaha]
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
