508 – Al-Dāraqutnī relates—on the authority of Muʿādh (may Allah be pleased with him)—that he said: “As for cucumbers, melons, pomegranates, and reeds, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has exempted them.” Its chain of transmission is weak (1).

—
Status of the ḥadith:
The report is weak. In al-Talkhīṣ it is stated: Al-Dāraqutnī, al-Ḥākim (1458), and al-Bayhaqī (7268) narrated it from Muʿādh, and it contains weakness. There is a break between Mūsā ibn Ṭalḥah and Muʿādh ibn Jabal, yet the gap is deemed tolerable because Mūsā transmits the report from Muʿādh’s written collection—a source accepted as authoritative by the specialists of ḥadith methodology—so some scholars declared it sound.

Lexical notes:
– qiṯṯāʾ: pronounced with a kasrah (some allow a ḍammah) on the qāf and an elongated vowel; singular qiṯṯāʾah. A variety of cucumber, but longer in shape.
– biṭṭīkh: with a kasrah on the bāʾ. An annual herbaceous plant of the gourd family that grows in temperate and warm regions; its fruit is large, spherical or oblong, and appears in several varieties.
– rummān: with a ḍammah on the rāʾ and a doubled mīm; singular rummānah. The well-known pomegranate; its tree belongs to the Lythraceae family.
– qaṣab: any plant with hollow, jointed stalks, such as sugar cane, sorghum cane, and the like.