2688. It is lawful to consume chickens, pigeons and various types of sparrows. Nightingales, starlings and larks are also considered types of sparrows.
Bats, peacocks, and various types of crows, and birds like owls, eagles and hawks, which have talons, or flap their wings lesser than gliding whilst flying, are all unlawful for consumption. The same applies to every bird that does not possess a crop, a gizzard and a spur behind its feet, unless it is known that it flaps its wings more than it glides, in which case it is lawful for consumption.
It is makruh to kill and consume the meat of a swallow or a hoopoe.
2689. If a part which possesses life, such as meat or fat, is severed from an animal that is alive, it is najis and unlawful for consumption.
2690. Some of the parts of lawful animals are unlawful for consumption. They are:
1. Blood
2. Excrement
3. Penis
4. Vagina
5. Uterus
6. Glands
7. Testicles
8. Penial gland
9. Spinal marrow
10. Gallbladder
11. Spleen
12. Urinary bladder
13. Eyeballs
Obligatory precaution dictates that one should also avoid consuming the two yellow nerves which run parallel on each side of the spinal cord. This precaution is highly emphasized in the case of the tallow nerves.
In the case of birds, their blood and excrement is undoubtedly unlawful to consume. As for the rest of the aforementioned parts, whichever are present in birds, the obligatory precaution is to avoid consuming them.
2691. It is unlawful to drink the urine of an unlawful animal. The same applies to lawful animals as well. It is also not permissible to consume other filthy things which are abhorred by human nature. However, there is no problem in drinking the urine of camels, cows and sheep in the event that one needs them for medicinal purposes.
2692. It is prohibited to consume clay. The same will apply to other parts of the earth, such as soil, pebbles and stones. There is no harm in eating Daghistani or Armenian clay if one’s treatment is limited to it. There is also no harm in consuming the earth from the grave of Imam al-Íusayn (as) for medicinal purposes, given that it does not exceed the size of an average chick-pea. It is better to dissolve the earth in a quantity of water, for example, such that it becomes completely diluted in it, and then drink from that water.
2693. It is not prohibited to swallow mucus or phlegm. Similarly, it is not prohibited to swallow food particles which are stuck to the teeth, and are removed upon cleaning the teeth, as long as it is not abhorrent to human nature.
2694. It is prohibited to eat or drink anything that would cause a person to die, or would inflict significant harm to him.
2695. It is makruh to eat the meat of a horse, a mule or a donkey. If someone defiles such an animal, the animal itself, its offspring and its milk become unlawful to consume. Their urine and dung becomes najis. Such an animal should be taken out of the city and sold elsewhere. It is incumbent upon the one who defiled it to pay its value to its owner.
If a person defiles a lawful animal, such as a cow or a sheep, their urine and dung become najis. It is also prohibited to eat their meat and drink from their milk. The same applies to their offspring. Such an animal should be killed and burnt immediately. The person who defiled the animal will have to pay its value to its owner.
2696. If a kid suckles milk from a pig, to the extent that it develops its bones, then the kid and its offspring are unlawful to consume. The same will apply to a suckling lamb based on obligatory precaution.
In the event that it suckles milk to a lesser extent, obligatory precaution dictates that the animal becomes lawful for consumption after it has undergone the process of istibr¡’. The process of istibr¡’ for such animals is that they should suckle milk for seven days from the udders of a goat or a sheep. If they do not need to suckle milk, they should eat grass for seven days.
As for an animal that is habituated to consuming human waste, its meat is also unlawful to consume. However, if it undergoes the process of istibr¡’, it becomes lawful. The process of istibr¡’ for such animals was elaborated in article 266.
2697. It is prohibited to consume wine and other intoxicants. There are numerous hadith which condemn their consumption. The purport of some of these hadith is as follows: God has not been disobeyed through an act that is more severe than consuming intoxicating drinks. Once Imam Ja‘far al-¥¡diq (as) was asked, “Which is worse, consuming wine or leaving prayers?” He (as) said, “Consuming wine, for it places the drinker in a state wherein he does not know his Lord.”
It has been narrated from the Holy Prophet (sawas) that wine is the root of every sin.
In fact, in some hadith, consuming of wine is considered to be more severe than adultery and stealing. The Lord has forbidden the consumption of wine because it is the source of all abomination, and the root of all evil.
A person who consumes wine loses his intellect, and hence fails to know his Lord. He commits every sin, violates every sanctity, severs every familial relationship, and commits every indecent act.
2698. It is forbidden to sit at a table where wine is being served, if a person is considered as one of them. It is also forbidden to eat something from that table.
2699. It is obligatory upon every Muslim to give bread and water to another Muslim who is at the verge of death on account of hunger or thirst, and to save him from dying.
