Dear Brother Musa,
Assalaamualakum wa rahamtullah.
The two shaykhs said that if it came from either a Muslim country or a country where the people of the Book reside, that is would not be necessary to investigate. However, would it not be very fair to assume that most of the leather would come from slaughtered animals but some of the leather would come from unslaughtered animals. For instance, if a cow dies of natural causes, most likely they would definitely use the skin to tan (all Shafi'i and Hanafi Muslims and all ahlal-Kitab) and discard the carcass? I assume that the two shaykhs you discussed this with have also taken this into consideration. Is this correct?
Wassalaam. Isa Martin --- musa furber wrote: <HR> <html> <div align="center"><i>Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim
</i><font size=6 color="#0000FF">Leather
</font></div> If a slaughtered animal's meat is lawful to eat, then tanning its leather will make it pure. This holds true whether a Muslim slaughtered the animal according to Islamic law, or it someone from the People of the Book doing it according to their law.
If an animal is not slaughtered or its meat is unlawful to eat, then tanning will not make its leather pure. This leather, however, can be used with things that are dry and solid but not with wets and liquids.
I asked two sheikhs about the problem of leather goods in the West. Both said that if the leather originates from a country whose population is considered Muslim or People of the Book, then it is considered ritually pure. Both sheikhs said that the consumer is not burdened with doing anything other than looking at the label. Neither sheikh saw any problem in using wearing leather shoes made of questionable leather since they would be removed for prayer.
--Musa