A sheep was given in alms to a female client of ours, but it died. The Prophet (ﷺ) passed it and said: Why did you not tan its skin and get some good out of it ? They replied: Messenger of Allah, it died a natural death. He said: It is only the eating of it that is prohibited.
Al-Zuhri used to deny tanning and say: Some good can be got out of it in any condition Abu Dawud said: Al-Auza'i, Yunus and 'Uqail did not mention tanning. al-Zubaidi, Sa'id b. 'Abd al-Aziz and Hafs b. 'Abd al-'Aziz mentioned tanning.
On the expedition of Tabuk the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to a household and, seeing a bucket hanging, asked for water. They said: Messenger of Allah, the animal died a natural death. He replied; Its tanning is its purification.
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ صَالِحٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي عَمْرٌو، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ الْحَارِثِ - عَنْ كَثِيرِ بْنِ فَرْقَدٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَالِكِ بْنِ حُذَافَةَ، حَدَّثَهُ عَنْ أُمِّهِ الْعَالِيَةِ بِنْتِ سُبَيْعٍ، أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ كَانَ لِي غَنَمٌ بِأُحُدٍ فَوَقَعَ فِيهَا الْمَوْتُ فَدَخَلْتُ عَلَى مَيْمُونَةَ زَوْجِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَذَكَرْتُ ذَلِكَ لَهَا فَقَالَتْ لِي مَيْمُونَةُ لَوْ أَخَذْتِ جُلُودَهَا فَانْتَفَعْتِ بِهَا . فَقَالَتْ أَوَيَحِلُّ ذَلِكَ قَالَتْ نَعَمْ . مَرَّ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم رِجَالٌ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ يَجُرُّونَ شَاةً لَهُمْ مِثْلَ الْحِمَارِ فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " لَوْ أَخَذْتُمْ إِهَابَهَا " . قَالُوا إِنَّهَا مَيْتَةٌ . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " يُطَهِّرُهَا الْمَاءُ وَالْقَرَظُ " .
I had some sheep at Uhud, and they began to die. I then entered upon Maymunah, wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), and mentioned it to her. Maymunah said to me: If you took their skins and made use of them, (that would be better for you). She asked: Is that lawful? She replied, Yes. Some people of the Quraysh passed by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) dragging a sheep of theirs as big as an ass. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to them: Would that you took its skin. They said: It died a natural death. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Water and leaves of the mimosa flava purify it.
The letter of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was read out to us in the territory of Juhaynah when I was a young boy: Do not make use of the skin or sinew of an animal which died a natural death.
They entered and I sat at the door. Then they came out and told me that Abdullah ibn Ukaym had informed them that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had written to Juhaynah one month before his death: Do not make use of the skin or sinew of an animal which died a natural death. Abu Dawud said: Al-Nadr b. Shumail said: The skin is called ihab when it is not tanned and when it is tanned, it not called ihab but na,es shann and qirbah (tanned skin or leather).
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not ride on silk stuff and panther skins. AbuSa'id said to us: AbuDawud said to us: The name of AbulMu'tamir is Yazid ibn Tahman. He lived in al-Hirah.