Can I Use Animal Glycerin in Skin Care Products Such As Lipliner?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question 

What is the ruling of animal glycerin in skincare products such as lipliner?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Products that contain animal byproducts are best to avoid unless one is sure that the animal byproduct underwent such a change (during production) that none of its original qualities remain, and it has essentially become a different thing. This is called istihala or a complete transformation. [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab] 

This is seen in the transference of alcohol to vinegar, the former being impure and then becomes pure when made into the latter. [Ibid.]

If you are not sure of the above, there are many alternative products that can easily be found in stores. See the Halal Muslim Guide for alternatives.

Impurity

Regarding the lipliner, which is made from animal glycerin, replace it with a halal alternative. As for things that the lipliner touched, it is not obvious that the impurity transferred to those things, therefore consider them all pure. 

This is based on the principles: all things are pure until proven otherwise. [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair]

In order for the transference of impurity to be established, the traces of the lipliner must be clearly manifest in the object with which it came in contact. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah] 

This is not possible to know after the fact. Due to this, the ruling remains that the objects contacted are pure because we cannot prove otherwise.  

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.