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Is it permissible to use animal dung as fuel for cooking food, especially bread that is exposed to the smoke of burning dung?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no harm in using dung as fuel. If it is the dung of an animal whose meat is permissible to eat, then it is pure, and its smoke is pure. If it is impure, it transforms into smoke and ash when used as fuel, and transformation (istihalah) is a purifying process according to the soundest of the two opinions of the scholars. Therefore, the smoke rising from it is pure and does not defile whatever it touches, such as bread, as stated by Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. This is because these substances were not addressed by texts of prohibition, but rather by texts of permissibility. If something becomes vinegar by Allah's action, it becomes lawful and good. Based on this understanding, according to the most correct of the two opinions, smoke and vapor that have transformed from impurity are pure because they consist of aerial, fiery, and watery particles and contain no trace of impurity.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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