An example of assistance is this: A person not in ihram sees some game and mounts his horse to hunt it, but he has left his arrow on the ground. He says to the person in ihram, “Hand me the arrow,” and he hands it to him. He then goes and hunts it. It is forbidden only to the person in ihram who assisted him; as for anyone else, it is not forbidden to him.

Seventh: If a person not in ihram hunts game and feeds it to a person in ihram, is it lawful for the person in ihram?

The answer: Some scholars said that it is forbidden to the person in ihram. They cited the general meaning of Allah’s saying:

“And forbidden to you is the game of the land, so long as you are in ihram.” [al-Ma’idah 5:96]

They said: This is land game, so it is forbidden to the person in ihram, even if the one who killed it was not in ihram.

They also cited the hadith of al-Sa‘b ibn Jaththamah, when he hunted a wild donkey and brought it to the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, but he returned it, saying: “We only returned it to you because we are in ihram.” (1) He did not say, “Because you hunted it for us.”

Their view is undoubtedly strong.

However, the correct view is that it is lawful for the person in ihram. (2) The meaning of Allah’s saying:

“And forbidden to you is the game of the land.” [al-Ma’idah 5:96]

is that “hunting” is a verbal noun; that is, you are forbidden to hunt land game. It does not mean “game that has been hunted.” This person in ihram had no involvement in this game: neither directing, assisting, nor participating in its hunt; nor did he hunt it himself, and it was not hunted on his behalf.

This is further supported by the story of Abu Qatadah, may Allah be pleased with him, when he went with