Wearing or sitting on skins of wild animals

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Perhaps the questioner is referring to the
hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari (5175) from al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allaah be pleased with him) which says that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade al-mayaathir.

Al-mayaathir was a kind of blanket that they
used to put on the saddle of the horse, which was made of silk. And some of the scholars interpreted it as referring to the skins of wild animals.
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Or it may be understood as referring to a stuffed cushion made of animal skin.

Fath al-Baari,
10/293

It was proven that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade wearing the skins of wild animals or sitting on them.

It was narrated that al-Miqdaam ibn
Ma’diyakrib (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) forbidding the wearing of animal skins or riding on saddles made from them.

Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4131; classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 3479.

Al-Tirmidhi (1771) and al-Nasaa’i (4253)
narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade using animal skins as furnishings. Classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 1450.

It was narrated from Mu’aawiyah ibn Abi
Sufyaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade tiger skins.

Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4239; vclassed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 3566.

It was narrated from
Mu’aawiyah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The angels do not accompany a group of people among whom there
is a tiger skin.”

Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4130; classed as
hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 3478.

Al-Mubaarakfoori said in Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi:

The ahaadeeth indicate
that it is not permissible to make use of animal skins.

The reasons why it is forbidden to make use
of them are:

1 – That involves arrogance and showing off,
because it is an imitation of tyrants, and because such things are the adornment of those who live luxurious and extravagant lives.

See Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, and
Haashiyat al-Sindi ‘ala Ibn Maajah.

We may add another reason to that, which is
that they are naajis (impure), because tanning does not make any skin pure except the skin of an animal that we are permitted to eat. Whatever we
are not permitted to eat, its skin cannot be made pure by tanning. This is the view of al-Awzaa’i, ‘Abd-Allaah ibn al-Mubaarak and Ishaaq ibn
Raahawayh, and it was narrated from Imam Ahmad. See Sharh Saheeh Muslim by al-Nawawi, 4/54; al-Furoo’ by Ibn Muflih, 1/102

This was also the view favoured by Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), according to one of his two opinions. Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 21/95. This view was
also favoured by Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him); al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 1/74.

If it is haraam to use
these skins, it make no difference whether they are worn inside the house or outside, The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
told us that the angels do not accompany a group of people among whom there is a tiger skin, as stated above.

It says in ‘Awn al-Ma’bood:

The hadeeth indicates
that it is makrooh to use tiger skins or to take them along on a journey or to bring them into the house, because the fact that the angels do not
accompany a group of people among whom there is a tiger skin indicates that the angels do not join a group or enter a house where that thing is
present. That can only be because it is not permissible to use it, as it was narrated that the angels do not enter a house in which there are
images or pictures. That is taken as evidence that images are haraam and that putting them in houses is haraam.

This applies if the clothes mentioned in the
question are made from real tiger skins. With regard to synthetic skins whose colours resemble the colours of animal skins, it is better for him
to avoid them so that he will not be accused by someone who does not know what they really are of wearing animal skins which it is haraam to
wear.

And Allaah knows best.