1166 – ‘Abd Allah ibn Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade al-khadhf and said, ‘It neither brings down game nor harms an enemy; all it does is break a tooth or put out an eye.’ ” Agreed upon, and the wording here is that of Muslim. (1)
Glossary of the ḥadith
• al-khadhf: As explained in Fatḥ al-Bārī—khā, dhāl, then fā—it is the act of shooting a pebble or date stone by placing it between two fingers, either the two index fingers or the index finger and the thumb.
• “It” (fa-innahā): the pronoun refers to al-khadhf; it is rendered feminine because it relates to the object flung, a pebble, which is feminine in Arabic.
• “does not wound” (tankaʾ): with a fatḥah on the prefix and on the kāf, followed by a hamzah, meaning it does not injure or kill an enemy. It is also narrated with a kasrah on the kāf and no hamzah; both readings are authentic, but al-‘Aynī preferred the form with the kasrah and no hamzah because nakitu fīl-ʿadu nīkāyah means “to inflict many wounds and kills,” whereas the form with a hamzah derives from nakatu l-qarḥah, “to scrape a sore,” which is less suited to the context.
• “puts out” (tafqaʾ): faqāʾa—with all fatḥahs—means to split the eye and force out its contents.
Points derived from the ḥadith
- Al-khadhf is the practice of propelling a pebble, date stone, or similar object by placing it between two fingers—the two index fingers or the index finger and the thumb. The Prophet ﷺ forbade this, and a prophetic prohibition indicates impermissibility; therefore the practice is unlawful.