Are Crayola Crayons Halal?

Questions regarding the usage of items that contain haram ingredients that are not consumed, such as cosmetics, clothing items, and others, is a point of misunderstanding for the Muslim community. Is it ok to sell pork if I do not eat it? Is it acceptable to purchase animal fats for lighting lamps? These questions have lead us to a deeper matter regarding many products. In particular, that of Crayola crayons. In this article, we will discuss the permissibility factor, and the contents of Crayola's crayons to better understand how this impacts the halal-conscious consumer.

Crayons are believed to contain animal by-products in the form of beef tallow (fat) . Their waxy scent is attributed to stearic acid or beef tallow which gives crayons its waxy consistency. But is this cause for concern?

Islamically, impermissibility is attached to the purchasing of non-halal items, as our Prophet (SAWS) expressly forbade. It must be clarified first that Allah SWT and his Prophet SAWS make clear as to what is impermissible to consume, and by way of extension, that which is impermissible to utilize and transact. 

The Messenger (ﷺ) taught us an important principle when he said: “When Allah forbids a thing, He (also) forbids its price.” - Abu Dawood, 3488 - Classed as authentic.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) reported: “Allah and His Messenger have forbidden the sale of alcohol, dead meat, pork and idols.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, what do you think of the fat of dead animals, for ships are caulked with it and animal skins are daubed with it, and the people use it to light their lamps?” He said: “No, it is haram.” Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “May Allah curse the Jews, for when Allah forbade them animal fat, they melted it down and sold it, and consumed its price.”  Hasan: Abu Dawud - Book 18, Hadith 182.

This establishes a general principle in Islamic jurisprudence: The permissibility to purchase, or sell any product relies mainly upon the permission or prohibition of its consumption. If its consumption is not permissible, then neither is its purchase. There are few exceptions to this rule, however, will not discuss these in this venue, as they are not relevant to the matter at hand. The above hadith mentions at the tail end, the statement of the Prophet SAWS. They "consumed its price”, meaning they purchased that which was not permitted. This is due not only to it being dead meat, but rather, to the fact that it is a forbidden item.

Further evidence supports this position:

1.   The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Allah has cursed alcohol, the one who drinks it, the one who pours it, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who squeezes (the grapes etc), the one for whom it is squeezed, the one who carries it and the one to whom it is carried.” -Abu Dawood (3674) and Ibn Maajah (3380) - Classed as Authentic

2.   It was also narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: On the day of Khaybar that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade eating the flesh of donkeys, and the animal which feeds on filth: riding it and eating its flesh. - Grade: Hasan Sahih - Sunan Abi Dawud 3811

3.   Ibn 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: ”The Messenger of Allah forbade riding or drinking the milk of Al-Jallaalah camels (camels that consume filth). - Hasan: Abu Dawud - Book 18, Hadith 182 

Here, it is clearly noted that not only is it impermissible to consume its meat, or fat for that matter, but it is also impermissible to drink its milk, and even ride.

Reputable news outlets and agencies citing Crayola as having animal derived ingredients

1. The Chicago Tribune: (https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-10-29-8603210512-story.html)
2. Business Insider: (https://www.businessinsider.com/15-surprising-things-that-contain-animal-products-2014-3)
3. Veg News: (https://vegnews.com/2018/6/crayola-debuts-58-piece-vegan-beauty-line)
4. Cultural Heritage: (https://cool.culturalheritage.org/waac/wn/wn19/wn19-3/wn19-308.html)

Crayola Releases a Vegan Product:

According to an article released on Veg News: "British retailer ASOS debuted a vegan beauty line today created in partnership with 133-year-old company Crayola. While original crayons are made with stearic acid—an ingredient derived from beef tallow—the new Crayola beauty x Asos line features 58 animal-free products in 95 crayon-inspired shades."

One must question, why some products are vegan, while others are not?

Crayola Refusing to Deny Claims

Our representatives, as well as many others, have contacted Crayola. In our conversation with their representative, Crayola Crayons neither confirmed nor denied the ingredients at stake, stating that its ingredients list is proprietary. Interestingly, they informed us that the only way to confirm whether their crayons contained animal products would be to consume their product, become sick by it, contact your doctor about your health issue, and in turn, have your doctor contact poison control who must proceed to contact Crayola and request their ingredient list.

Although our research is inconclusive, we believe that the lack of transparency on behalf of Crayola is telling enough.

In order to avoid any doubt, an alternative to Crayola crayons presents itself in RoseArt and Stockmar's beeswax crayons. These companies have confirmed that they do not utilize any animal derivatives in their products of any kind.