and while Abū Qatādah was roaming about to gather intelligence on the enemy, his companions entered iḥrām, whereas he remained on alert for the foe, thinking that keeping watch would occupy him and prevent him from entering Mecca and performing the ʿumrah rites. For that reason he did not assume iḥrām. This, as it appears to me, explains the delay in his consecration—Allah knows best.
10 – Game hunted by a non-pilgrim on behalf of a pilgrim is not forbidden to the non-pilgrim himself; the Prophet’s ﷺ acceptance of the gift and his returning it to the donor show that it was lawful. By contrast, an animal hunted by the pilgrim is forbidden to the hunter and to everyone else, whether they are in iḥrām or not.
11 – The ḥadīth of Abū Qatādah indicates that entering iḥrām is not obligatory for someone who enters Mecca without intending a devotional act.
12 – Refraining from doubtful matters until their permissibility or prohibition becomes clear is an aspect of piety.
13 – The report also establishes the permissibility of hunting and that it is not an unlawful pastime.
Disagreement among the scholars:
The outward sense of Abū Qatādah’s ḥadīth suggests that a pilgrim may eat game taken by a non-pilgrim, even if it was hunted for his sake, so long as he did not assist in the hunt. The apparent meaning of the ḥadīth of aṣ-Ṣaʿb ibn Jathāmah, however, is that if the non-pilgrim hunted specifically for the pilgrim, it is not lawful for the latter. Because of this, the jurists differed:
Abū Ḥanīfah, ʿAṭāʾ, Mujāhid, and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr held that a pilgrim may eat from game hunted by a non-pilgrim, even if it was taken for him. Their proof is the ḥadīth of Abū Qatādah: the Prophet ﷺ did not ask Abū Qatādah whether he had hunted the animal for his companions or not; he approved their eating it before they reached him and told them to eat what remained of its flesh. This opinion is also reported from a number of Companions, including ʿUmar, al-Zubayr, and Abū Hurayrah.
Ṭāwūs and ath-Thawrī, on the other hand, considered it impermissible for a pilgrim to partake of any game hunted by a non-pilgrim, whether or not it was captured on the pilgrim’s behalf. Their evidence is the ḥadīth of aṣ-Ṣaʿb ibn Jathāmah, for the Prophet