CHAPTER 46 – EATING (THE MEATS OF) SEA CREATURES
Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent us to follow the Quraysh's caravan. He appointed 'Ubayd ibn Jarrah as our commander. He gave us a measure of dates as provisions, and he could not find anything else to give. 'Ubayd would take a date from those dates and eat it like a child suckling, then drink water with it. It would suffice for us until evening. We would shake the leaves of trees, then moisten them with water and eat them. We descended to the sea, and we saw something that appeared to us as a large sand dune; when we approached it, it was an animal called ambergris (stranded on land). 'Ubayd ibn Jarrah said: "This animal is dead to you; it is not permissible." Then I said: “But we are envoys of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. We set out in the path of Allah, and you are in a difficult situation, so eat.” We were three hundred people. We continued eating it for a month. We grew fat and plumped up. When we arrived at Medina, we mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “That is sustenance that Allah brought forth for you. Is there anything of its meat that you can bring to us?” So we sent him some of its meat, and he ate it. [460]