Third: If the trees are on the road, may they be removed for the sake of the road?

The answer is: if there is a necessity, such that it is not possible to divert the road to another location, then there is nothing wrong with cutting them down. But if there is no necessity, then the road must be diverted around them, because it is prohibited to cut them down without necessity.

Fourth: If the tree is outside the road, but its branches extend into it and harm passers-by with their thorns and branches, should it be cut down?

The answer is: it should not be cut down, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Its thorns are not to be cut.” (1) Thorns are harmful, yet he nevertheless forbade cutting them; that is, severing them. A person can lower his head so that the branches do not strike him.

If someone were to ask: if a person unintentionally steps on herbage, is anything due from him?

The answer is no. This is like locusts spreading across his path and him passing over them: nothing is due from him. Similarly, if a person needs to lay down bedding in Mina or Muzdalifah where there is vegetation, it is not prohibited for him to place the bedding on the ground, even if this results in the destruction of the herbage or the roots of trees beneath it, because that is unintentional. It is well known that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions had camels that walked upon the ground, and he did not say, “Avoid walking on the ground.” There is a difference between what is done deliberately and what is not.

Hunting in Medina is prohibited, but there is no compensation for it. Herbage may be taken for fodder, for farming implements and the like. Its sanctuary extends from Ayr to Thawr.

His statement, “Hunting in Medina is prohibited”: hunting within the sanctuary of Medina is prohibited, but