and Mubārak also informed us, from al-Ḥasan, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mughafal,
on the authority of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—who said: “Do not pray in camel enclosures, for they were created from devils (1).”
It was said of Mubārak: his narrations number about two hundred.
85 – Ziyād ibn Saʿd Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Khurāsānī * (ʿ)
The imām, ḥāfiẓ, and authoritative proof: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Khurāsānī. He resided in Mecca and was a study-partner of Ibn Jurayj before settling in the village of ʿAk in Yemen.
He transmitted from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, Ibn Shihāb, ʿAmr ibn Muslim al-Jinadī, and others.
Those who narrated from him include his contemporaries: Ibn Jurayj, Mālik, Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, Abū Muʿāwiyah the Blind, and many more.
Al-Nasāʾī and others declared him trustworthy.
(1) Also transmitted by Ahmad, 4/86, through Abu al-Nazr → al-Mubarak → al-Hasan; again by Ahmad, 5/56-57, and by Ibn Majah, no. 769, through a different chain from al-Hasan → Abd Allah b. al-Mughaffal.
A parallel report comes from al-Baraʾ b. ʿAzib: when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about performing the prayer in camel enclosures, he said, “Do not pray in camel pens, for they belong to the devils.” When asked about sheepfolds he replied, “Pray in them, for they are a blessing.”
Recorded by Abu Dawud, no. 184 (Book of Purification, chapter: Ablution after eating camel meat).
Its chain is sound; this judgment was affirmed by Imam Ahmad, Ibn Rahuyah, and Ibn Khuzaymah.
Al-Khattabi explains that the prohibition concerns the unruly and skittish nature of camels: one cannot be sure they will not jostle the worshipper or spoil his prayer.
(*) Biographical sources: al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-Kabir 3/358; al-Marwazi, Maʿrifat wa-l-Tarikh 1/647-648; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil 3/533-534; Ibn Hibban, Mashahir ʿUlamaʾ al-Amsar 146; al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asmaʾ wa-l-Lughat 1/198; al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, manuscript 444; al-Dhahabi, Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, manuscript 1/244; idem, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz 1/198; al-Fasi, al-ʿIqd al-Thamin 4/453; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 3/369-370; al-Dhahabi, Tabaqat al-Huffaz 85; Ibn Hajar, Khulasat Tadhhib al-Kamal 125.