What is the ruling on eating a goat which was breastfed from a she-ass?

Answer

Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.

Apparently, the ruling on eating the goat which was breastfed from a she-ass is similar to the ruling on eating the chicken which used to eat trash. There is no agreement on this issue, that is, eating the goat which was breastfed by a she-ass. The Hanafi scholars see that eating this meat is undesirable and almost unlawful as it is stinky. Nevertheless, scholars say that eating mutton of sheep or a goat which was breastfed by a bitch or sow is not unlawful. This is because the meat of them is not affected by the milk of such animals. This is mentioned in Al-Kasani’s Badai’ Al-Sanai’; he belongs to the Hanafi school.

However, scholars who belong to the Hanbali school find that if the sheep which was breastfed by a bitch or a sow is isolated for forty days to make it drink pure drinks, eating its meat will be lawful.

Scholars who belong to the Shafi’i school have a different opinion. They say that it is unlawful to eat the mutton of a sheep which was breastfed by a bitch, she-ass, or sow if its meat changes. Some of them say it is undesirable. However, if its meat does not change; in other words, if it is not stinky, there is nothing wrong about it even if it eats impure foods.

To sum up, what could judge in this issue, whether to eat the goat which was breastfed from a she-ass or not, is the smell of the meat. If it is slaughtered, and they find that its meat is stinky, then it is almost unlawful to eat it. It is much preferred to leave this goat for period of time before slaughtering it to let it drink pure drinks. This is because there will be no effect of that milk in the body of the goat. Then if it is slaughtered, and they find its meat tasty, it is eaten. If they find it stinky, it should not be eaten.