Skinning a Dead Animal and Selling the Hide

Question

Formerly the Chamars (an Indian caste of leatherworkers, regarded as low) used to remove the hide of dead animals, but now they no longer do so. May one remove the hide oneself and make use of it or sell it, or not?

Answer

Removing the hide from the body of a dead cow or buffalo is permissible according to the Sharia; likewise it is permissible to tan it (dibagha) — whether by cooking it or by treating it with salt and the like — and to sell it.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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