SECTION · 26 – THE RULING ON EATING HORSE MEAT
3788 – From Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of the expedition to Khaybar forbade us from eating donkey meat, but permitted us (to eat) horse meat. [433]
3789 – It is narrated from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: On the day of the expedition to Khaybar, we slaughtered horses, mules, and donkeys. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade us from slaughtering mules and donkeys, but did not forbid us from slaughtering and eating horses.
3790 – It is narrated from Khālid ibn al-Walīd (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade (the eating of) the meat of horses, mules, and donkeys. In the narration of Ḥaywa among the transmitters, he added: "He also forbade eating the flesh of every predatory animal with a fang." [434] Abū Dāwūd said: The ruling expressed by this hadith is the view of Mālik. Abū Dāwūd said: There is no harm in (eating) horse meat. But the practice is not in this way. Abū Dāwūd said: This hadith is abrogated. A group from among the Companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), including Ibn al-Zubayr, Fāḍala ibn ʿUbayd, Anas ibn Mālik, Asmāʾ the daughter of Abū Bakr, Suwayd ibn Ghafala, and ʿAlqama, ate horse meat. The Quraysh used to slaughter horses during the lifetime of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him).
EXPLANATION
The meat of donkeys and of mules born from donkeys is forbidden (ḥarām). The meat of horses and of mules born from mares is disliked (makrūh). (Bezl al-Majhūd, vol. 16, p. 114; Maʿālim al-Sunan, vol. 5, p. 308)
3791 – It is narrated from Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I was a skillful boy approaching puberty. One day I hunted a rabbit and roasted it. Abū Ṭalḥa sent the hind leg of the rabbit with me to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him). I brought it to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), and he accepted it.
3792 – It is narrated from Khālid ibn Ḥuwayris (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr was at Ṣifāh. Muḥammad ibn Khālid said (Ṣifāh) is the name of a place in Mecca. A man brought a rabbit he had hunted and said: O ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, what do you say about eating rabbit? ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr said: A rabbit was brought to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) while I was sitting. He did not eat it, nor did he forbid eating it, and he said that the rabbit menstruates.
EXPLANATION
The statement of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) that the rabbit menstruates is not to indicate that its meat is problematic, but rather to mention a characteristic found in it. Menstruation for it is a greater means of purification, and it purifies its meat.