Al-Qurtubi on the consumption of human meat
Question:
Does the Malikite scholar Al-Qurtubi allow the consumption of human flesh?
Answer:
Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Qurtubi writes: “If a person in need finds a carcass, a pig, or the meat of a human being, he will eat the carcass because it is allowed in one case, but the pig and the human being are not allowed in one case, and the mild prohibition is more preferable than to violate a severe prohibition, like the case when one is forced, either to have sex with his sister or with a strange woman, whereupon you practice intercourse with the strange woman because she is allowed to you in one case and that is the correct of these judgments and you do not consume the person even if he has died, which is what our scholars and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and Dawud Az-Zahiri advocated and Ahmad used the statement of the Messenger (s) as proof: “To break the bones of a dead man is like breaking his bones while he is alive.” Muhammad Ibn Idris Ash-Shafi’i said: “You consume the flesh of a man and you are not allowed to kill a protégé (Jew or Nazarene), because his blood is inviolable and neither a Muslim nor a prisoner, since he is the property of another. But if it is a person with whom one is at war or an adulterer, then it is permissible to kill him and eat of his flesh.” Dawud expressed himself in an ugly way about Al-Mizzi by saying: “You have declared the eating of the flesh of the Prophets to be permitted!” Whereupon, Ibn Shuraih overcame him by saying: “You have subjected the Prophets to murder by forbidding them to eat the flesh of the disbelievers!” Abu Bakr Ibn Al-Arabi said: “I consider it correct that you do not eat the flesh of a human being unless you are truly saved by it and it keeps you alive and God knows better.” [Al-Jami’ Li Ahkam Al-Qur’an, Volume 3 Page 41]
قال محمد بن أحمد القرطبي: إذا وجد المضطر ميتة وخنزيرا ولحم ٱبن آدم أكل الميتة لأنها حلال في حال والخنزير وٱبن آدم لا يحل بحال والتحريم المخفف أولى أن يقتحم من التحريم المثقل كما لو أكره أن يطأ أخته أو أجنبية وطىء الأجنبية لأنها تحل له بحال وهذا هو الضابط لهذه الأحكام ولا يأكل ٱبن آدم ولو مات قاله علماؤنا وبه قال أحمد وداود احتج أحمد بقوله عليه السلام: كسر عظم الميت ككسره حيا وقال الشافعي: يأكل لحم ٱبن آدم ولا يجوز له أن يقتل ذميا لأنه محترم الدم ولا مسلما ولا أسيرا لأنه مال الغير فإن كان حربيا أو زانيا محصنا جاز قتله والأكل منه وشنع داود على المزني بأن قال: قد أبحت أكل لحوم الأنبياء! فغلب عليه ابن شريح بأن قال: فأنت قد تعرضت لقتل الأنبياء إذ منعتهم من أكل الكافر قال ابن العربي: الصحيح عندي ألا يأكل الآدمي إلا إذا تحقق أن ذلك ينجيه ويحييه; والله أعلم
