Are the head (Ra's) and shank/trotter (Kari') considered meat for the purpose of an oath restricting meat consumption?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Expiations
Primary text
Narration from Ahmad suggests consuming the head or shank does not break the oath, implying that an oath against buying meat does not include these parts unless the intent was to buy nothing from the sheep at all. This is because the common name 'meat' does not typically extend to heads and shanks; if one were commissioned to buy meat and bought a head instead, the agent would not be held liable, and the seller is called a 'head seller,' not a 'butcher.'
Supporting text
Abu Al-Khattab holds that eating the cheek meat breaks the oath as it is genuinely meat. A view from Abu Musa suggests the oath is only broken if the oath-taker specifically intended heads/shanks. Regarding the tongue (Lisan), there are two possibilities: one view holds it breaks the oath as it is real flesh; the other holds it does not, as it is named and characterized distinctly from lean meat, similar to the heart.