Can I Sell Medicine For Pigs?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
I work in a company on a team that sells cattle medicine. Now, I am being promoted to a higher position where I will manage our medicine business for cattle and pigs. If I accept that role, will my earnings be lawful?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
Selling medicine intended for pigs is permissible, and your related earnings will be permissible, and Allah knows best.
What About Pigs is Unlawful?
Sacred law considers pigs unlawful to consume and filthy (najasa). Based on this, transacting or benefiting from pigs and their by-products is generally unlawful.
Allah says: “Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden to eat except carrion, running blood, swine—which is impure—or a sinful offering in the name of any other than Allah. But if someone is compelled by necessity—neither driven by desire nor exceeding immediate need—then surely your Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Quran, 6:145]
Caring for the Living Creatures of God
Islam recognizes that pigs, like all creatures, are part of Allah’s creation, and their existence serves a purpose in the broader natural order.
Allah says: “All living beings roaming the earth and winged birds soaring in the sky are communities like yourselves. We have left nothing out of the Record. Then, to their Lord, they will be gathered all together.” [Quran, 6:38]
According to the Shafi‘i School, dogs are the legal equivalent of pigs, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught kindness and compassion to dogs.
Rewards of Caring for All Living Creatures
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “While a man was walking on his way, he became extremely thirsty. He found a well and went down into it to drink water.
Upon leaving it, he saw a dog panting out of thirst. His tongue was lolling out, and he was eating moist earth from extreme thirst. The man thought: ‘This dog is as thirsty as I was.’ So he descended into the well, filled his leather sock with water, and, holding it in his teeth, climbed up and quenched the dog’s thirst.
Allah appreciated his action and forgave his sins”. The Companions asked: “Shall we be rewarded for showing kindness to the animals also?” He (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “A reward is given in connection with every living creature”. [Bukhari; Muslim]
I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.
