Comprehensive Chapter on Animals that are not Edible

I heard the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, saying, “Al-Kufah is the skull and the spear of Allah, most Blessed, most High, and the mine of faith, thus you must accept from them. I can inform you that the Messenger of Allah stayed in Makkah one day and one night hungry. Then he went out and I went with him (the Messenger of Allah). We passed by a group of friends who were eating lunch. They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, join us for lunch.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘Yes, make room for your Prophet.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) sat between two men and I also sat down. He (the Messenger of Allah) took a loaf and made it into two portions, then he (the Messenger of Allah) looked at their curry and asked, ‘What your curry is made of?’ They replied, ‘It is made of eel, O Messenger of Allah.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) threw the piece of bread from his hand and left. Abu Sa‘id has said, ‘I stayed behind to find out people’s opinion. People differed. One group said that the Messenger of Allah has made it (eel) unlawful. The other group said, ‘He (the Messenger of Allah) did not make it unlawful but just left, had he made it unlawful he would have prohibitted eating it.’ He (abu Sa‘id) has said, ‘I memorized what they had said and followed running to join the Messenger of Allah, then we met a group of friends eating lunch; and they asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, join us for lunch.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘Yes, make room for your Prophet.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) sat between two men and I also sat with him. When he took a piece of bread and looked at their curry, then asked, ‘What your curry is made of?’ They replied, ‘It is made of lizard, O Messenger of Allah.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) threw the piece of bread from his hand and left. Abu Sa‘id has said, ‘I stayed behind and people differed. They were two groups. One group said, ‘The Messenger of Allah has made it unlawful and for this reason, he (the Messenger of Allah) did not eat.’ The other group said, ‘He (the Messenger of Allah) just left. Had he made it unlawful he would have prohibited us from eating.’ I then followed the Messenger of Allah until I joined him and we passed by the foot of al-Safa’ where cooking pots were boiling. They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah if you can wait until our cooking pots are ready.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) asked them, ‘What is in your cooking pots?’ They replied, ‘Our donkeys that we used to ride, have failed to move so we slaughtered them.’ The Messenger of Allah went close and turned the cooking pots with his foot, then he (the Messenger of Allah) left fast. I stayed behind and certain ones of them said, ‘The Messenger of Allah has made the flesh of donkeys unlawful’ and others said, ‘No, he did not do so. He only emptied out your cooking pots so that you never slaughter your stumpers.’ Abu Sa‘id has said that the Messenger of Allah sent for me and when I arrived in his presence he (the Messenger of Allah) said. ‘Call for me Bilal.’ When I brought Bilal in, he (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘O Bilal climb on abu Qubays hill and announce that the Messenger of Allah has declared, eel, lizard and domestic donkeys unlawful for food. So have fear of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, and do not eat of fish except what has peels and the peels have scales, because Allah, most Blessed, most High, has metamorphosed seven hundred nations who had disobeyed the executors of wills after the messengers. Four hundred of them remained on land and three hundred of them went in the sea’, then he read this verse. ‘. . . We turned their existence into ancient tales by making them disintegrate totally.’ (34:19)” (The above Hadith is from ‘ Ammah narrators and its style is very different from those of the Khassah narrators).

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ’Of the beasts that which have canine teeth and of birds those which have claws are not lawful for food.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘Of the beasts that which have canine teeth and of birds that which have claws are not lawful for food.’ He (the Imam) has said, ‘Do not use any of the beasts for food.’”

“I once asked abu al-Hassan, Musa ibn Ja‘far (a.s.), about the flesh of elephants. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, it is not lawful for food.’ I then asked, ‘Why is it so?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It has deformities and Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has made what is metamorphosed unlawful for food as well as the flesh of what is deformed in its shape.”’

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about eating lizards. He (the Imam) said, ‘Lizards, rats, apes and pigs are metamorphosed.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the flesh of dogs. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is metamorphosed.’ I asked, ‘Is it unlawful for food?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is Najis (unclean). I repeat it three times for you and each one says it is Najis (unclean).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), disliked using poisonous things for food.’”

“I once asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about using crows of several colors and black ones, for food. He (the Imam) said, ‘None of the crows are lawful for food, zagh or others.’”

“I once asked abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.), about peacock. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not lawful to use it or its eggs for food.’”

“We once asked abu Ja’far (a.s.), about using domestic donkeys for food. He (the Imam) said, ’The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, prohibited it on the day of Khaybar. He (the Messenger of Allah) did so on that day because people used it for transportation. Unlawful is what Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has made unlawful in the Quran.’”

“I once heard abu Ja’far, Alayhi al-Salam, saying, ’Muslims during the days of Khaybar faced difficulties and they rushed their stumpers. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, commanded that the cooking pots must be emptied (of cooking donkey flesh) and did not say it is unlawful for food. It was to preserve stumpers.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah, Alayhi al-Salam, about the flesh of horses. He (the Imam) said, ‘Do not use it for food unless it is a matter of necessity, as well as the flesh of the domestic donkeys. He (the Imam) said, ’It is in the book of Ali, Alayhi al-Salam, that he (the Imam) prohibited using it for food.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah, Alayhi al-Salam, about the flesh of donkeys. He (the Imam) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, prohibited using it for food on the day of Khaybar.’ I asked him (the Imam) about using horses and mules for food. He (the Imam) said, ’The Messenger of Allah has prohibited using them for food, so do not use them for food unless it is due to necessity and you are compelled.’”

“Abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’, Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘The Elephant is metamorphosed, he was a king who fornicated. The wolf is metamorphosed. He was an A’rabi and a pimp. The Fox is metamorphosed. She was a woman who cheated her husband and would not take Ghusl (bath) because of her Hayd (menses). The Bat is metamorphosed. He stole people’s dates. The apes and pigs were from people of banu Israel who transgressed on Sabat. Eel and lizard are from a group of banu Israel who did not believe in the table sent for Jesus, son of Mary Alayhi al-Salam. They strayed, one group fell in the sea and one group remained on land. The Rat is metamorphosed; it is the indecent woman. The scorpion is metamorphosed. It was a taleteller. The bear is metamorphosed and the wasp was a butcher who stole from the balance.’”

“Al-Rida’ (a.s.), was asked about the crow of several colors; if it can be use for food. He (the Imam) said, ‘Who is he that has made the black lawful for you for food?”’

“Abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.), has said, ‘The Peacock is metamorphosed. He was a beautiful man. He treated with disregard the woman of a believing man. The woman loved him and he fell on her, then continued and was metamorphosed by Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, in the form of male and female. It is not edible, in the form of flesh or its eggs.’”