667 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When a mouse falls into clarified butter, if the butter is solid, remove it and whatever is around it; but if it is liquid, then keep away from it.” Narrated by Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd.
The narration was declared the result of confusion (wahm) by al-Bukhārī and Abū Ḥātim. (1)
Hadith grading
Shaykh Muḥammad Zakariyyā al-Kandahlawī writes in his commentary on the Muwaṭṭaʾ, summarizing: ʿAbd al-Razzāq transmitted it from Maʿmar, from Ibn Shihāb, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abu Hurayrah, with the wording, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked…,” and so forth.
He adds: al-Tirmidhī quoted al-Bukhārī as saying about Maʿmar’s version, “It is mistaken,” and Ibn Abī Ḥātim declared it “a confusion.” Al-Tirmidhī also hinted that it is anomalous (shādh). Both al-Bukhārī and Abū Ḥātim ruled that Maʿmar erred in attributing it to al-Zuhrī, for the sound chain is al-Zuhrī → ʿUbayd Allāh → Ibn ʿAbbās → Maymūnah.
Lexical note
– māʾiʿ (liquid): The verb māʿa yamīʿu mīʿan means “to flow, to run.” Hence māʾiʿ is the opposite of jāmid (solid).
Points derived from the two ḥadiths
- Both narrations show that the mouse is impure (najis) and classed among noxious creatures; in the two Ṣaḥīḥs the Prophet ﷺ ordered its killing and called it “a wicked creature.”
- If a mouse falls into clarified butter or any other liquid and dies in it, it contaminates the surrounding portion; therefore, both the mouse and the affected area must be discarded.