[IMRA: Egypt's al-Azhar is one of the most prestigious centers of Sunni Islam learning]
Al-Azhar textbook: Eating dead Jews, Christians and infidels ‘halal’ if
necessary
Wed, 01/04/2015 - 18:10 Al-Masry Al-Youm
http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/al-azhar-textbook-eating-dead-jews-christians-and-infidels-%E2%80%98halal-if-necessary

Religious jurisprudence textbooks for Al-Azhar students address, among other
things, the issue of eating dead human beings, quoting Mansour bin Yunus
al-Bahuti, a scholar of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence who died 500
years ago, as saying that eating dead Jews, Christians and non-believers is
halal (permissible by Islam) if it is a necessity, but non-Muslims are not
to eat dead Muslims, even out of necessity.

Another textbook quotes Imam al-Sherbini of the Shafi school of
jurisprudence as saying that dead prophets of any religion should not be
eaten. And when he was told that prophets do not die and that they lie alive
praying in their graves according to the Hadith, he said that he meant if
they were found dead before they were buried.

He also clarified that the meat of dead Jews, Christians and infidels should
be eaten raw, not cooked or grilled.

Other Al-Azhar textbooks say that eating dead Jews, Christians and
non-believers can be allowed not only out of necessity, but also as a
punishment for heresy.

In the book “Persuasion in Resolving the Words of Abi Shoga” that takes
after the Shafi school of jurisprudence, the author says a Muslim warrior
may kill and eat infidel men, women and children if they were not warriors
themselves.

But bin Abdel Salam recommends eating warrior adults and leaving warrior
children for their economic value as slaves.

The chapter about food in the Hanbali book “Al-Rawd Al-Moraba Fi Sharh Zad
Al-Mustaqni” for the secondary Al-Azhar schools says the Prophet allowed the
eating of a hyena and a horse, which the Hanafi and Maliki schools of
jurisprudence disagreed with.

The author also allowed the eating of peacocks, parrots, crows, locusts and
water creatures, except frogs, crocodiles and eels. Whales may be eaten, he
said, except their liver and their spleen. He also forbade the eating or
grilling of live fish.

In the chapter about what is permissible to eat, the book “Al-Sharh al
Saghir” for Ahmed Dardir, which explains the Maliki school of jurisprudence,
says it is not permissible to eat wild game hunted by a Muslim and an
infidel together, or anything slaughtered by a Christian or a Jew.

The book permits eating a giraffe and forbids eating pork. It says a Muslim
may eat a dead human being out of necessity, but not eat pork or wild game
that was hunted by a non-believer.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm