Is It Permissible to Purchase and Use Down Products?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
Is it permissible to purchase and use products made with down feathers? To my understanding, these products are made by collecting the down feathers of un-slaughtered birds. Would the feathers be considered najis (filth)?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to that which pleases Him, Amin.
Feathers are pure if plucked while an edible bird is alive or after it is slaughtered (according to Sacred Law rites). They are impure if the feathers are plucked from an inedible bird or an edible bird after it dies without being slaughtered.
If one doubts the source or whether the feathers were plucked before or after slaughter, the default ruling is that they are pure, and Allah knows best. [Shirbini, Mughni Al-Muhtaj; Haythami, Tuhfat Al-Muhtaj]
I pray this is of benefit.
[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.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, 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 served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and pursuing his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.
