Issue 1325: Eating the meat of birds like falcons which have claws is illegal; and eating the meat of swallows and hoopoes is legally disapproved.

Issue 1326: If a living part of the body of a live animal is cut off, for example, if a piece of fat or flesh is cut off the body of a live sheep, it will be impure and legally forbidden to eat.

Issue 1327: There are fourteen parts of the body of legal-meat animals which are illegal to eat:

1-Blood

2-Excrement

3 and 4- Male and female genitals

5- Womb

6- Glands

7- Testicles

8- Pituitary gland

9- Spinal cord inside the spine

10- Vertebral ligaments (the two yellow bands connecting the spinal vertebras together)

11- Gall bladder

12- Spleen

13- Urinary bladder

14- Eye lens and pupil

Issue 1328: Eating anything which is harmful to human beings is illegal.

Issue 1329: Eating the meat of horses, mules and donkeys is legally disapproved and if a person has sexual intercourse with these animals, their meat and milk will be illegal and such animals should be taken to some other city to be sold there.

Issue 1330: Drinking alcoholic beverages is illegal and according to some traditions, it is considered as the most cardinal sin and if anyone should take it as a legal and permissible act while knowing that the necessary condition for such a perception is to deny Allah and His Holy Prophet (PBUT), they will be accounted as an unbeliever. As quoted from Imam Ja'far Sadiq (PBUT), “Alcohol is the root of evils and sins, and one who drinks alcohol, loses their sanity, and then they will not know Allah and will not fear committing any sin, they will not respect others' rights, will not refrain from committing open evils; the spirit of faith and piety departs from them and only the impure and vicious spirit, which is far from the mercy of Allah remains in their body. Allah, His angels, His Prophets and the true believers will curse such a person. Their daily prayers will not be accepted for forty days, and their face will be dark on the Judgment Day, their tongue will come out of their mouth on that Day and their saliva will fall on their chest and they will desperately complain of thirst.

Issue 1331: To eat at a table at which others are drinking alcohol will be illegal and as an obligatory precaution, one should avoid sitting at such a table if they should be considered as one of those people.

Q1332: Is it illegal to eat the testicles of sheep and in this regard, does it differ in what manner it is processed?

A: Eating the testicles of sheep and any other animal is illegal and it does not make any difference in what way it is processed; but it is permissible to use it for any other purpose than eating.

Q1333: What is the definition for “intoxicant” (Muskir)? Do you consider all intoxicants as illegal? Is a person with a high capacity and resistance towards intoxicants and whose mind stays intact using them allowed to use them? Does it differ whether they are used much or little?

A: Anything which usually causes states like drunkenness is referred to as intoxicating (Muskir) and is illegal; its illegality is independent of the quantity used even if the user does not become drunk and intoxicated despite of excessive use or due to any other reason.

Q1334: What will the verdict be on eating fast foods and ready-to-eat foods such as sandwiches, canned meat and fish?

A: If such foods are bought in Muslim markets, it will be permissible to eat them, but if they are obtained from markets of unbelievers (kafirs) or provided through their hands, they will be deemed as impure (Najis) and illegal to eat, except for fish and its canned products, as long as it is certain that the fish has been caught and not found dead in water and in this case it does not matter if the fish has been caught by an unbeliever; hence, the fish will be legal and it is not necessary that it should have died out of the water.

Q1335: What is your view on eating the meat of hedgehogs and does it affect one's prayers and fasts?

A: Eating the meat of hedgehogs is illegal, and just like eating any other illegal food, has its natural effects on one's heart and soul which they should suffer, but it has no special effect on the actual validity and correctness of their religious practices such as prayers and fasts.

Q1336: What will the verdict be on eating lobsters or crabs?

A: Eating lobsters or crabs -which are also referred to as "cancers" (Al-Saratan) in Arabic- is illegal.

Q1337: It is said that the meat of some illegal-flesh animals is helpful in curing some diseases. While there is no valid scientific or religious documentation on this issue, what will the ruling be on hunting and using the meat or blood of such animals?

A: Eating the meat of illegal-flesh animals is illegal and forbidden, but if a Physician’s diagnosis is that the cure for a certain disease is exclusively dependent on eating the meat of an illegal-flesh animal, it will be permissible to consume it provided that it is consumed as much as necessary; however to purify it despite its illegality, the animal must at least, be slaughtered according to the Islamic laws.

Q1338: My spouse is committed to religious duties, and recently he/she has been suffering from renal stone and the doctor has prescribed drinking barely water for him/her. What will the verdict be on this?

A: The beverage in question which is extracted from barely under the supervision of experts and is called barely water (Ma’-ul-sha’eer) is most definitely legal and permissible to drink.

Q1339: As written on their labels, some beverages which are imported from foreign countries contain two percent alcohol. Would it be legal to drink them?

A: If it is certain that the beverages contain intoxicating alcohol, they will be impure and illegal to drink, but if there is doubt as to that alcohol’s being intoxicating, it will be pure and legal to drink.

Q1340: Is it permissible to use the gelatin prepared from the bone marrow of pigs or of cows which have not been slaughtered according to the Islamic laws in producing foodstuffs such as candy, yogurt, etc., and as capsules for medicines?

A: If the bone marrow -of pigs and of cows which have not been slaughtered according to the Islamic laws- undergoes a total and qualitative transformation in the process of producing gelatin, just as a the body of a dog turns into salt in a salt marsh, then the gelatin will be pure and permissible to be used, otherwise it will be impure and it will be forbidden to use such gelatin, unless for medical treatments where necessary; the confirmation as to whether such a said transformation has taken place will be up to the obliged user him/herself.