fangs among the beasts of prey.” Agreed upon.

An exception is the hyena, which is permissible to eat, based on the report of Jābir: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded us to eat hyenas.”

The eminent scholar Ibn al-Qayyim said, “What has been forbidden is every predator that is, by its very nature, aggressively carnivorous—such as the lion. The hyena, however, possesses only one of those two characteristics, namely having fangs, yet it is not an inherently aggressive predator. A beast of prey was prohibited because of the fierceness it contains, a quality that imparts to the one who eats it a resemblance to that trait. The hyena is not counted among the ferocious predators, neither in language nor in common usage….” End quote.

As for birds, they are lawful in principle except for those specifically excluded. Forbidden among birds is any that hunts with its talon—the claw with which it seizes other animals—such as the eagle, the goshawk, and the falcon. Ibn ʿAbbās said, “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade every beast of prey with fangs and every bird with talons.” Reported by Abū Dāwūd and others.

Imām Ibn al-Qayyim also stated, “The narrations from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibiting every beast with fangs and every bird with talons are mass-transmitted and beyond challenge in their authenticity, coming through the hadiths of ʿAlī, Ibn ʿAbbās, and Abū Hurayrah.”