Sunan Ibn Majah — Chapters on Hunting

“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 (ﷺ) commanded that dogs be killed.”

“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ): ‘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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) said: ‘Eat them for they are the game of the sea.’”

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

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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: ‘Because one ant bit you, you destroy one of the nations that glorify Allah?’” Another chain reports a similar hadith.

“The Prophet (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) forbade that and then you go and do it again? I will never speak to you again.”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) commanded that they should be killed.”

It was narrated from Abu Tha’labah Al-Khushani that the Prophet (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ)?’ He said: ‘Yes.’”

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

“We were with the Prophet (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ). 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 (ﷺ) 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.” Another chain reports a similar hadith.

“A man from among Ahlus-Suffah called the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ), 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) forbade eating cats and he forbade their price.”