The evidence for this is that the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, proclaimed this prohibition in the year of the Conquest of Makkah, saying: “Allah declared it sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth, and it remains sacred by Allah’s sanctification until the Day of Resurrection.” He also said concerning it: “Its game is not to be disturbed.” (1) If merely disturbing its game is unlawful, then killing it is unlawful all the more so. This emphatic report also proves that the inviolability of Makkah cannot be abrogated, since its endpoint was set as the Day of Resurrection.

His statement, “Its game is forbidden to one in ihram and one who is not”: he ascribed the game to the Sanctuary. Accordingly, if game from outside the Sanctuary enters it, it does not become prohibited. Nevertheless, one must relinquish one’s physical possession of it and release it; it may not be slaughtered within the Sanctuary, nor may one retain physical possession of it. This is the well-known position of the school.

The correct view is that if a person who is not in ihram brings game into the Sanctuary from outside its boundaries, it remains lawful, because it is not game belonging to the Sanctuary; rather, it is game belonging to its owner. During the caliphate of Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, people used to buy and sell gazelles and hares in the very heart of Makkah without any objection. (2) This shows that game brought in from outside the Sanctuary and sold in Makkah may lawfully be bought, sold, slaughtered, and eaten, with no sin involved.

Question: The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that hunting sea game is not prohibited if it is within the Sanctuary. According to the school, however, if it is within the Sanctuary, hunting it is prohibited, though no compensation is due for it.