Oil containing pig fat as a medicine

Question

Question: An oil is to be prepared that will be useful in many illnesses; it contains fifteen kinds of drugs of Greco-Arabic medicine, and 2½ grams of pig fat are to be added to every kilogram of mustard oil. According to the ruling of the Shariʿa, may the fat be added or not? Without adding it, a weakness remains in the oil.

Answer

The pig is intrinsically impure (najis al-ʿayn); using its fat is also haram, and such an oil will likewise be impure (najis). If someone is afflicted with an illness such that, according to the diagnosis of an experienced and religious physician, there is no other medicine for it but rather the cure lies solely in this, then in such a state of compulsion there will be…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.