Sunan Ibn Majah: Chapter 28

“What do they
use dogs for?” Then he permitted them to keep hunting dogs.

“What do they
use dogs for?” Then he permitted them to keep farming dogs and dogs
of
‘Ein. Bundar said: “The ‘Ein refers to the walls of
Al-Madinah.”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
commanded that dogs be killed.”

“I heard the
Messenger of
Allah (PbUH) raising his voice and commanding that dogs be
killed, and
dogs were killed, except for hunting dogs or dogs kept for
herding
livestock.”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
said: ‘Whoever keeps a dog, one Qirat will be deducted from him
(good)
deeds every day, except a dog for farming or herding
livestock.”

“Were it not that dogs form one of the communities
(or
nations – of creatures), I would have commanded that they be
killed. But kill those that are all black. There are no people who
keep a dog, except for dogs used for herding livestock, hunting or
farming, but two Qirat will be deducted from their reward each day.”

“I heard the Prophet
(PbUH) say: ‘Whoever keeps a dog that he does not need for farming
or
herding, one Qirat will be deducted from his (good) deeds each
day.’”

“I came to the
Messenger of Allah (PbUH) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we live
in a
land of the People of the Book and we eat from their vessels.
And we
live in a land (where there is) game, so I hunt with my bow
and with
my trained dog and with my untrained dog.’ The Messenger
of Allah
(PbUH) said: ‘As for what you say about living in a land of
the People
of the Book, do not eat from their vessels unless you can
find no
alternative. If you can fidn no alternative then wash them
and eat
from them. With regard to what you say about hunting,
whatever you
catch with your bow, say the Name of Allah over it and
eat. Whatever
you catch with your trained dog, say the Name of Allah
over it and
eat. But whatever you catch with your untrained dog, then
catch it,
slaughter it, then eat.’”

“I asked the Messenger of
Allah (PbUH): ‘We are people who hunt with these dogs.’ He said:
‘If
you send out your trained dogs and mention the Name of Allah
over
them, then eat whatever they catch even if they kill it, unless
the
dog has eaten any of it. If the dog has eaten any of it then do
not
eat it, for I fear that it will have caught it for itself. And if
another dog joins it, then do not eat it.’”

“We were forbidden (to
eat) the game caught by their dogs and birds – meaning the
Zoroastrians.”

“I asked the Messenger of Allah
(PbUH)
about the all-black dog and he said: ‘(It is) a devil.’”

“Eat
what your bow brings you.”

“I said: ‘O Messenger of
Allah, we are people who shoot (arrows).’ He said: ‘If you shoot
and
pierce (the game), then eat what you pierced.’”

“I said: ‘O Messenger of
Allah, what if I shoot the game but it vanishes at night?’ He said:
‘If you find your arrow in it and you do not find anything else,
then
eat it.’”

“I asked the Messenger of
Allah (PbUH) about hunting with Mi’rad. He said: ‘Whatever it
struck
with its sharp edge, then eat it, but what is struck with its
side is
something that has been killed by a violent blow.’”

“I asked the Messenger of
Allah (PbUH) about Mi’rad. He said: ‘Do not eat unless you pierce
(the
game).’”

“Whatever
is
cut from an animal hen it is still alive, what is cut from it is
Maitah (dead meat).”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
said:
‘At the end of time there will be people who will cut off
camels’
humps and sheep’s tails. But what is cut from a living animal
is
dead.’”

“Two kinds of dead meat have been permitted to us: fish
and locusts.”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH) was
asked
about locusts. He said: ‘(They are) the most numerous troop of
Allah. I neither eat them nor forbid them.’”

“The
wives of the Prophet (PbUH) used to give each other gifts of
locusts
on trays.”

“O
Allah,
destroy their large ones and kill their small ones, spoil their
eggs
and root them out. Take their mouths away from our livelihood and
provision, for You are the One Who hears the prayers.” A man said:
“O
Messenger of Allah, are you praying against one of the troops of
Allah, that they may be rooted out?” He said: “Locusts were
sneezed
out by the fish in the sea.”

“We went out with the Prophet
(PbUH) for Hajj or ‘Umrah, and we encountered a swarm of locusts or
a
type of locust. We started hitting them with out whips and sandals.
The Prophet (PbUH) said: ‘Eat them for they are the game of the
sea.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
forbade killing shrikes*, frogs, ants and hoopoes.”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
forbade killing four kinds of animals: Ants, bees, hoopoes and
shrikes.”

“One
of the Prophets was bitten by an ant, so he ordered that
the ant
colony be burned. Then Allah revealed to him: ‘Becauseone ant
bit
you, you destroy one of the nations that glorify Allah?’”

“The Prophet (PbUH) forbade throwing small pebbles and said:
‘They do not kill any game nor hurt the enemy, but they can break a
tooth or put out an eye.’” He did it again, and he (‘Abdullah)
said:
“I tell you that the Prophet (PbUH) forbade that and then you
go and do
it again? I will never speak to you again.”

“The Prophet (PbUH)
forbade throwing small pebbles and said: ‘They do not kill any game
or
hurt the enemy, but they can break a tooth or put out an eye.’”

It was
narrated from Umm Sharik that the Prophet (PbUH) told her to
kill
house lizards.

“Whoever kills a house lizard with one blow will have such and
such
a reward. Whoever kills it with two blows will have such and such
a
reward,” less than the first. “And whoever kills it with three
blows
will have such and such reward,” less than that mentioned the
second
time.

“Vermin.”

“O Mother of the Believers, what do you do with this?” She
said: “We kill these house lizards with it, for the Prophet of
Allah
(PbUH) told us that when Ibrahim was thrown into the fire, there
was no
beast on earth that did not try to put it out, apart from the
house
lizard that blew on it. So the Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
commanded that
they should be killed.”

It was
narrated from Abu Tha’labah Al-Khushani that the Prophet (PbUH)
forbade eating any predatory animal that has fangs.

“Eating any
predatory animal that has fangs is unlawful.”

“On the Day of Khaibar, the
Messenger of Allah (PbUH) forbade eating any predatory animal that has
fangs and any bird that has talons.”

“I said: ‘O Messenger
of
Allah, I have come to ask you about the vermin of the earth. What
do
you say about foxes?’ He said: ‘Who eats foxes?’ I said: ‘O
Messenger of Allah, what do you say about wolves?’ He said: ‘Does
anyone in whom there is anything good eat wolves?’”

“I
asked Jabir bin ‘Abdullah about hyenas: ‘Are they game (that can
be
hunted)?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ I said: ‘Can I eat them?’ He
said: ‘Yes.’ I
said: ‘Is this something that you heard from the
Messenger of Allah
(PbUH)?’ He said: ‘Yes.’”

“I said: ‘O Messenger
of
Allah (PbUH), what do you say about hyenas?’ He said: ‘Who eats
hyenas?’”

“We were with
the
Prophet (PbUH) and the people caught a mastigure. They grilled it
and
ate from it. Then I caught a mastigure so I grilled it and brought
it
to the Prophet (PbUH). He took a palm stalk and started counting his
finger with it, and said: ‘A nation from among the Children of
Israel
was turned into beasts of the earth, and I do not know if this
is
they.’ I said: ‘The people have grilled them and eaten them.’
He did
not eat it and he did not forbid it.”

“The Prophet (PbUH) did not
forbid (eating) mastigures, but he found that distasteful. It is the
food of most shepherds, and Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has
benefited more than one person thereby. If I had some I would eat
it.”

“A man from among
Ahlus-Suffah called the Messenger of Allah (PbUH) when he had finished
the prayer, saying: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Our land is a land
infested
with mastigures. What do you think of (eating) mastigures?’
He said:
‘I have heard that a nation was transformed.’ He did not
tell us to
eat them, and he did not forbid that.”

“O
Messenger of Allah, it is the flesh of a mastigure.”
He took his
hand away, and Khalid said to him: “O Messenger of Allah,
is a
mastigure unlawful?” He said: “No, but it is not found in my land
and I find it distasteful.” He said: “Then Khalid bent over the
mastigure and ate some of it, and the Messenger of Allah (PbUH) was
looking at him.”

“I
do not forbid it,” meaning mastigure.

We passed by Marr Az-Zahran
and
startled a rabbit. They chased it but got tired, so I chased it
and
caught it. I brought it to Abu Talhah who slaughtered it and sent
its
rump and thigh to the Prophet (PbUH), who accepted it.

“O Messenger of
Allah, I
caught these two rabbits but I cannot find any iron* with
which to
slaughter them with Marwah** and eat them?” He said: “Eat.”

“I said: ‘O Messenger
of
Allah, I have come to you to ask you about the vermin of the earth.
What do you say about mastigures?’ He said: ‘I do not eat them
and I
do not forbid them.’ I said: ‘I will eat of that which you
have not
forbidden. But why (do you not eat them), O Messenger of
Allah?’ He
said: ‘One of the nations was turned into beasts and I
looked at this
creature and was uncertain.’ I said: ‘O Messenger
of Allah, what do
you say about rabbits?’ He said: ‘I do not eat
them and I do not
forbid them.’ I said: ‘I will eat of that which
you have not
forbidden. But why (do you not eat them), O Messenger of
Allah?’ He
said: ‘I have been told that it menstruates.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
said:
‘The water of the sea is a means of purification and its dead
meat
is permissible.’”

“Whatever the sea throws out or is left behind when the
tide
ebbs, eat it, but whatever rises to its surface, do not eat it.’”

“Who eats crows? The Messenger
of
Allah (PbUH) called them vermin, By Allah, they are not from among
the
good and permissible things.”

“Snakes are vermin, scorpions are vermin, mice are vermin and crows
are vermin.”

“The Messenger of Allah (PbUH)
forbade
eating cats and he forbade their price.”