What is the decree of eating the flesh of horse and drinking kumis (horse’s milk) in Islam?

Dear Brother / Sister,

– We work and live in the Central Asian countries like Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. We come across with different customs and habits here. We sometimes contradict the people living here.

Among the main issues of conflict are eating the flesh of horse and drinking horse’s milk, that is, kumis. Since we do not customarily eat the flesh of horse and drink kumis, some of our friends say insistently, "They are haram; they cannot be eaten or drunk." Some of our friends say they are not haram; they can be eaten and drunk.

We ask some scholars to overcome this conflict but they tell us different things. Some scholars say “kumis cannot be drunk” while other say “it can be drunk”. We get surprised by the different answers. Those who read your books told us that we could get answers that would not confuse us from you. Will you tell us the issue clearly? Is it permissible to eat the flesh of horse and drink kumis?

Those who asked the question probably did not understand the answers fully; therefore, they complain by saying, "The different answers of our scholars confused us."

As a matter of fact, the different answers they received are correct answers expressing the different viewpoints of Islamic fiqh. However, the narration is incomplete; it needs to be explained:

Islam is not the religion of a certain region and people of certain habits and customs.

People living all over the world with different customs and habits can live based on this widespread and tolerant religion. Islam has flexible decrees that can satisfy all of them. For, there exists ijtihad related to the details, not the fundamentals, of the religion. The authoritative mujtahids in the past deduced flexible decrees to meet different needs. 

The Prophet (pbuh) did not prohibit those different views; on the contrary, he indicated its benefit by saying, "Difference of opinion in my community is a source of mercy."

When we view the issue with this understanding, we see that Abu Hanifa, who had a different ijtihad, did not say it was haram to eat the flesh of the horse and to drink its milk but he did not hesitate to say that it was makruh. He made an ijtihad like that.  

Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad said it was not makruh and they made the following ijtihad: "The flesh of the horse can be eaten and its milk can be drunk when it is needed." Imam Shafii confirmed the view of those two imams.

In that case, an extraordinarily special, beautiful, flexible and tolerant answer emerges. The following can be stated based on those different ijtihads:

Do you not have the habit of eating the flesh of horse and drinking its milk? Do you feel that it is haram? There is no need to debate and to conflict. You can act based on the view of Abu Hanifa. Do not eat the flesh of horse and do not drink its milk. Stop the debate.

Do others eat and drink them based on their customs? Are they accustomed to it? Do they want to eat the flesh of horse and drink kumis in any case? Then, let them eat and drink. Thus, they will act based on the view of the two imams and Imam Shafii; they will feel peaceful. Thus, it has become clear that there is no need to debate and conflict.

So, nobody will say anything to others. Everybody has the freedom of choice.

Then, the different answers given by the scholars are not wrong. However, the narration is incomplete. Some of them said, "it is not permissible" based on the view of Abu Hanifa and others said, "it is permissible" based on the view of the two imams and Imam Shafii. They left it to the addressees to choose.

Let us end the issue with the words of Imam Sarakhsi, the great scholar. He summarizes the issue as follows in al–Mabsut:

“Abu Hanifa’s ijtihad is more appropriate. There is tolerance and ease in the ijtihad of the other two imams. Imam Shafii’s ijtihad is in compliance with the view of the two imams.” (Kaynaklarıyla İslam, Fıkhı, Vol. 4)

Thus, there is no problem and hardship that will confuse the minds and make you conflict with the local people. On the contrary, there is tolerance and ease that will enable you to adapt yourselves to the place where you are by preferring the one you wish. There is no problem if you understand the essence of the issue and if you drink kumis without making it intoxicating by keeping it for a long time. It is necessary to drink it before it becomes an intoxicating haram drink. That is the essence of the issue.

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