To what extent can the rule "the default state of things is permissibility" be applied to foods, clothes, and soap, especially when sufficient details about their ingredients or source are unavailable?

Scholars formulated the rule "The default status of things is permissibility (ibāḥah)" based on شرعي (Sharia) evidence. This means that benefiting from everything on Earth is permissible unless there is proof of its prohibition. This rule applies to foods, drinks, clothes, and cleaning materials, with two exceptions:

1. Harmful substances: It is forbidden to consume harmful materials due to Allah's saying: (وَلا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ) "And do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction," and the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm." If the harm outweighs the benefit or is equal to it, then prohibition is the default.

2. Meats and slaughtered animals: The default status for them is prohibition, and they are not permissible إلا (except) through شرعي (Sharia-compliant) slaughter (dhakāh). For their permissibility, it is sufficient to know that the slaughterer is Muslim or from the People of the Book, unless it is proven that they were slaughtered in a manner contrary to the شرع (Sharia).

A product for which there is no شرعي (Sharia) evidence of its prohibition, or whose ingredients do not list anything forbidden or harmful, is ḥalāl (permissible) and ṭāhir (pure). If forbidden ingredients enter food, consuming it becomes forbidden if the forbidden substance is still present in its original form. However, if it has transformed into another substance, then it is permissible to consume it. The default status for clothing is permissibility, except for what the شرع (Sharia) has excluded, such as silk for men or certain leathers that are not purified by tanning.