CHAPTER 5:

Tanning (Samak)/ Dibagh in Islam

Prepared by:
Nurul Hidayah Mansor
ACIS UiTM Cawangan Negeri Sembilan
Updated: November 2019
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Definition of tanning

Purposes of tanning

Raw materials relating to tanning

Preparatory steps prior to tanning

Issues in tanning
 DEFINITION OF TANNING
• Tanning
(samak/dibagh)
is the process of
treating skins
and hides of
animals to
produce leather.
• A tannery is the
place where the
skins are
processed.
 EVIDENCE SOURCES ABOUT TANNING IN
ISLAM

• ‫ِإَذ ا َأْر َس ْلَت َك ْلَبَك َفَذ َك ْر َت اْس َم ِهَّللا َع َلْيِه َفَقَتَل َو َلْم َيْأُك ْل َفُك ْل َو ِإْن‬

‫َأَك َل ِم ْنُه َفَال َتْأُك ْل َفِإَّنَم ا َأْمَس َك ُه َع َلْيِه َو َلْم ُيْم ِس ْك َع َلْيَك‬
• The Prophet passed by a dead sheep that had been thrown aside. He said: "Who does
this belong to?" They said: "Maimunah." He said: "Why did she not make use of its
skin?" They said: "It is dead meat (i.e., it was not slaughtered properly)." He said:
"Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has only forbidden us to eat it."
• [Sunan an-Nasai]
Ibn ʿAbbās ‫ رضي هللا عنهما‬reported that the Prophet ‫صلى هللا عليه و‬
‫ سلم‬said: “If the hide of an animal is tanned, it becomes pure.”

The obligation of tanning process in Islam was based on a

hadith narrated by Muslims which says: َ‫غِ بُ ِإَذ ا دَ رُ َ ْ د‬

‫ َطهَ قُ ب ف اَ اِ إله‬Means: “When the skin is tanned, it will be

clean and purified”
(Hadith. Muslim. Chapter Idha Dubigah al-Ihab Faqad Tahura.
105)
TYPE OF SKIN/HIDE

Skin

Hide
Leather comes in different: Hide Shapes/Animal, Thicknesses, Tannages, and Dying
Processes. Within each of these categories they have different options.

1. Leather can be made

from the hides of
different animal.
Additionally, Each of
these animal's hides
are different sizes
and shapes. As such
cow hides come in
three different
shapes; full hides,
half hides, and
shoulders.
2. Leather is created in
different
thicknesses which is
measured in
milometers.

3. Leather is also
tanned using chrome
tanning, vegetable
tanning, or oil
tanning.
 PURPOSES/IMPORTANCES OF TANNING
IN ISLAM
1 The purpose of tanning is to produce purify leather.
Remove the flash/meat, fat, mucus and tissues from the
2
skin
Prevent skin from easy to decompose, soften the skin and
3
making it more durable.
4 Produce the high quality of leather products.
To ensure only permitted (halal) materials are used in
5
whole processing of tanning.
Compulsary for industries to follow shariah
6
guideline/procedure in tanning rawhide process.
TYPES/CATEGORIES OF TANNING
• Three types of tanning, broadly:
i. Vegetable tanning
ii. Chrome tanning
iii. Oil tanning
Chrome tanning is a relatively recent method of
tanning, but easily the most dominant.
• It involves soaking the hides in baths
containing acidic salts until they are ready for
the next step, chrome tanning.
• The bath includes chromium tanning agents CHARACTISTIC
and the acidity of the bath is decreased until
the surface of the hides starts absorbing the
chromium agents.
LEATHER
• The wet hides produced from this process are
blue, and known as “wet blue hides.”
• Chrome tanning is faster than
vegetable tanning and can take up to a day
with modern machinery.
• After the initial tanning process, the leather is
cut into various thicknesses as required by the
leather craftsmen. It is then further processed
for making leather goods. Being a highly
automated process, this kind of leather is
popular and costs less than more labor-
intensive tanning methods.
EXAMPLE OF VEGETABLE TANNING
BARK
Bark (kulit kayu) is
so commonly used, ROOTS
that we often refer to
vegetable tanned
This book has many plants used in tanning listed
leather as bark tanned
for India and Pakistan
leather.

Tannins are very common in plants and if

WOODS concentrated sufficiently, even low tannin
Some woods yield plants could be used to tan skins.
tanning material if
chipped and cooked.

Manzanita leaves was

apparently used in
Crushed Sumach Sweden and Russia as a
leaves tanning agent.
LEAVES
 • Today, 80-90% of leathers in the world
EXAMPLE OF CHROME TANNING
are tanned by chrome tanning.
• Chrome tanning uses a solution of chemicals,
acids, and salts (including chromium sulfate)
to tan the hide.
• It is a very quick process, taking about a day to
produce a piece of tanned leather.
Lime is used in tanning to loosen the hair for removal, and sort
of clean the skin fiber of unwanted substances. It is used in the
same way for processing rawhide as well as skin for making
glue
Chromium salts (especially chrome alum
and chromium sulfate) are used in chromium-
tanning of leather. The chromium stabilizes the leather by
cross linking the collagen fibers
Formic acid (Medium strength organic acid). Formic acid
ensures efficient, homogeneous tanning of hides in leather
manufacturing.
• Deliming and bating leaves the hides in a slightly alkaline
state, but tanning requires acidic conditions.
• Therefore, the hides are pretreated with sulfuric acid and
formic acid prior to tanning in a process called pickling.
MATERIALS /(RAW) USABLE IN TANNING
PROCESS IN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
The scholars have Ibn ‘Abidin (1992) says:
unanimously agreed that
“Tanning is anything which can avoid the skin from
tanning of animal skin can be being damaged and demolished.”
done using any materials
(whether the materials are
traditional in nature or
Imam al-Nawawi (t.th) says:
chemical substance) which
can reach the aim of the “It is permissible to tan the animal skin using
tanning that is purify the skin anything which can remove remaining fat and dirt, to
and remove any dirt from it. sustain and preserve it from being damaged”
THE METHOD OF DIBAGH (TANNING) OF ANIMAL SKIN
ACCORDING TO MALAYSIA STANDARD (ISLAMIC
PERSPECTIVE)
• The methods are as follows:
1. The method to clean and purify skin of the non-slaughtered (najs) animals other
than the skin of dog, pig and their families is by removing all the mucus, meat,
and liquids attached to such skin.
2. All the dirt and dung attached to the skin has to be removed. Anything
affixed to the skin of non-slaughtered animal such as hair shall not be
considered clean and purified ever after undergoing dibagh process. As such,
the hair should be removed from the skin.
3. Materials to be used for tanning must be something which can remove
mucus, meat, flesh or liquids attached to the skin. Examples of such
materials are from the plants such as acacia leaves (qaraz), manjakani ( c afs)
and pomegranate skin (qusyur al-rumman) as well as chemical substances such
as potassium alum (al-shabbu) etc.
4. Skin which has undergone the process of dibagh has to be washed with pure
water (mutlaq) to remove the dirt.
5. The process of dibagh is considered invalid if the skin is only dried under the
sun, soaked with soil, frozen and salted
 METHODE/PROCESS/ PREPARATORY
STEPS OF TANNING
Pre-
Tanning/
How is Leather Made: Step Tanning/
Beamhous Finishing
Retanning
by Step Process on Tanning e
and Finishing? Operation

-Presevation -tannin (vegetable/ -shaving

-Soaking mineral tannin) -bleaching
-Liming -neutralizing
-Unhairing -fat liquoring
-Deliming -oiling/
conditioning
1. STEPS OF TANNING
PROCESS

2. MATERIALS ARE USED

IN TANNING PROCESS
TANNING OF ANIMAL SKIN IN HALAL INDUSTRY
IN MALAYSIA
Sailcott (M) International
Sdn. Bhd choosed (one of
the tanning companies which
was awarded the Halal
Certificate by JAKIM) to
understand how the tanning
process is undertaken in
Malaysia industry also
introduce halal leather and
skin-based products for
Muslim customers.

The materials being used by Sailcott (M) International in

tanning process was seen as more detail and specific as
compared to what has been discussed by the previous fiqh
scholars.
THE METHOD OF TANNING IN
SAILCOTT (M) INTERNATIONAL

1. Choosing and Weighing

Choosing and weighing is the stage at which the skins are
prepared before undergoing the tanning process. It is at this
stage where the skins are chosen to determine the ones that fit
for the process. Once the choices are done, the skin will then
be weighed.

2. Soaking (merendam)
The soaking process aims to soften the skin especially the dried
skin until it becomes exactly the same with the animal skin
which has just been removed after being slaughtered. Soaking
was also meant for removing blood, dirt, dung, soil and other
impurity elements which are still remaining after curing
process. The materials used for this process are pure water,
detergent and soda ash (sodium carbonate).
 3. Liming (treat (soil or water) with lime to reduce acidity and
improve fertility or oxygen levels)

The objective of liming process is to promote swelling of

collagen, to facilitate the removals of hair, epidermis and others
within 24 hours. The materials used for this process include
pure water, sodium sulfide and chalk.

4. Fleshing
The remaining flesh which is attached to the skin will be shaved
with special knife or flesh removal machine.
5. Reliming
This process aims to remove hair and other elements from the
skin which are still remaining during liming process. Materials
used for this process are pure water and chalk.

6. Deliming
The objective of deliming process was to remove the remaining
chalk attached or unattached to the skin. The materials used
include water, ZA, H2SO4 (sulphuric acid) which has been
diluted 10 times in the water.

7. Bating
Bating process is an enzymatic action to remove unwanted hide
components after liming process to impart softness, stretch,
and flexibility to the leather. Bating material used is oropon.

8. Degreasing
This process aims to remove the remaining fats left over after
being soaked or after tanning process. Chemical materials used
are iragolDa or Sandopan DTC

9. Pickling
It aims to acidize skin at the range of pH 3 – 3.5. The acid
substances used are from weak organic acid such as lactic
acid, sulphuric acid, formic acid as well as water and salt.
Pickling is a pre tanning process which is normally done
to help with the penetration of certain tanning agents,
e.g., chromium (and other metals), aldehydic and some
polymeric tanning agents.
10. Tanning
Tanning’s objective is to ensure the skins are durable and
long-lasting as well as remain soft even after being dried. The
materials used for this process, among others, include
mimosa (acacia tree), chrome, formalin and sodium
carbonate (Na2CO3).
11. Aging
After tanning process, the skins will be undergoing aging
process where the skins are hanged and will be left to dry
without putting them under the sunshine. Accordingly, the
skins will be weighed and cleaned with pure water for
about 15 minutes.
12. Neutralization
This process aims to neutralise and remove any acid which is
present in the leather. Materials used for this process are
alkaline materials.

13. Retanning
Retanning process was meant for giving
more ideal and better features which are
not provided by other tanning materials.
Materials used for this process are
synthetic tanning materials, nabati
(plants) or mineral.
14. Dyeing
The objective of this process was to give
basic colour to tanned skin to ensure its
quality and pleasant appearance.
Materials used for this process include
water, levelling agent, primer paint and
formic acid.
15. Fat Liquoring
The fat liquoring is a process that aims to
produce more durable, quality and good-
looking tanned skins. Materials used for
this process include water and sulphated
oil mixed with anti fungal.
16. Fixation
The objective of this process is to break the emulsions of oil
and water so that the water will be easily sublimed when it is
dried. Chemical materials used for this process is formic acid
(HCOOH) which has been diluted 10 times in water and added
with anti fungal.
17. Drying
The objective of this process is to
gradually reduce the sediment
water in skin without damaging
the skin as well as tanning agent
and oil in the skin. The process
can be done by hanging the skins
on wooden trusses and let them
dried by exposing to air and wind.
18. Finishing
At this stage, the skins will be given binder, pigment,
penetrator, filler, wax or thinner to suit with the purpose of the
use of such tanned skins. The skins which have been painted
and dried will then be embossed to print the required pattern
on the hides and to ensure its quality and attractiveness.
ISUESS IN TANNING
1. chemical issue
2. Water using/ waste waster issues
3. Health of workers
4. smell/odor pollution