Abu Dawud (2) narrated, with his chain of narration from Thawban, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: (3) "Purchase (4) for Fatimah (5) a necklace of 'asab (tendons) (6) and two bracelets of ivory (aj)."
Our argument is the word of Allah the Almighty: {Forbidden to you is the dead animal}. Bone is part of it, so it is forbidden. The elephant is not eaten; thus, its meat is impure in all circumstances. As for the hadith, al-Khattabi said: Al-Asma'i said: 'Al-aj' is al-dhibl (7). It is said that it is the bone of the shell of the sea turtle (8).
Malik held the view that if an elephant is slaughtered properly, its bone is pure; otherwise, it is impure, because in his view the elephant is an animal whose meat is edible. This is incorrect, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited the eating of every animal possessing fangs from among the beasts of prey [Agreed upon] (9), and the elephant has the greatest fangs among them.
(2) In: The Chapter on What Has Been Narrated Concerning Benefiting from Ivory, from the Book of Grooming (al-Tarajjul). Sunan Abi Dawud 2/404, 405. It was also narrated by Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 5/275. (3) Omitted from M. (4) In M: "Ishtara" (He purchased). (5) In M, there is the addition: "may Allah be pleased with her". (6) Ibn al-Athir mentioned it with a sukun on the sad, then quoted al-Khattabi in al-Ma'alim as saying: "If it is not Yemeni garments, then I do not know what it is, and I do not think a necklace would be made from them." He also quoted Abu Musa as saying: "It is possible in my opinion that the narration is 'al-'adab' (with a fatha on the sad), which refers to the tendons of animal joints. It is a circular object, so it is possible they would take the tendons of some pure animals, cut them, and form them like beads, then once they dried, they would use them for necklaces." He also quoted from him, on the authority of some people of Yemen, that 'asab is the tooth of a sea animal called 'Pharaoh's mare', from which beads and other things like knife hilts are made, and it is white. Al-Nihaya 3/245. (7) In al-Qamus: "Al-dhibl: the skin of a sea or land turtle, or the back bones of a land animal, from which bracelets and combs are made." (8) Ma'alim al-Sunan 4/212. In it, after this: "As for the ivory which is known to the general public, it is the bone of the elephant's tusks, and it is a dead animal (maytah) which is not permitted to be used." (9) In M: "Narrated by Muslim". The hadith was recorded by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter on the Milk of Female Donkeys, from the Book of Medicine. Sahih al-Bukhari 7/181. And Muslim, in: The Chapter on the Prohibition of Eating Every Animal Possessing Fangs from Among the Beasts of Prey and Every Bird Possessing Talons, from the Book of Hunting.
