1153 – Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade killing four kinds of creatures: the ant, the bee, the hoopoe, and the shrike.” Narrated by Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd, and declared authentic by Ibn Ḥibbān. (1)

Classification of the ḥadith
The ḥadith is ṣaḥīḥ (authentic).
The compiler states: It was transmitted by Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Ḥibbān judged it sound.
Al-Bayhaqī and Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd remarked, “Its transmitters are those of the Ṣaḥīḥ collections, and it is the strongest report on this subject.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ (Ibn Ḥajar) also deemed it authentic in al-Talkhīṣ.
It has a corroborating report from Sahl ibn Saʿd recorded by al-Bayhaqī.

Vocabulary
• ad-dawābb: plural of dabbah; its diminutive is duwaybah.
Al-Miṣbāḥ states: Every animal that lives on land is a dabbah. Some scholars excluded birds from the category, but that view is refuted by the text: “Allah created every living creature from water” (Q 24:45). The modern restriction of dabbah to horses and mules when used without qualification is a later convention.

• an-namlah: the singular of naml; the plural is namal. It is called namlah because of tanammul, its ceaseless movement. It is a minute insect of the order Hymenoptera, suborder Aculeata. It builds its nests underground and lives in colonies of its own kind, tirelessly industrious, cooperative, and remarkably resourceful in seeking sustenance, and by nature it hoards