—nothing around them that could serve as an alternative, unlike the Meccan sanctuary (1).
If someone (2) brings game into it (3), he is not obliged to release it.
There is (4) no ḥaram anywhere on earth—neither Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) nor any other—except these two sanctuaries, and nothing else should be called a ḥaram, as the uninformed say when they speak of “the ḥaram of al-Maqdis” or “the ḥaram of al-Khalīl (Hebron)”; for these two places and all others are not sanctuaries (5) by unanimous agreement of the Muslims.
The only sanctuary on which there is total consensus is the Meccan ḥaram. As for Medina, it too enjoys sanctuary status according to the majority (6), as this is abundantly attested in the hadiths transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ.
= Reported by Ahmad (no. 959) and Abu Dawud (no. 2035); al-Nawawi judged it sound in al-Majmuʿ, 7/478, and the same ruling was given by al-Albani.
A second narration—by Kathir b. ʿAbd Allah al-Muzani, from his father, from his grandfather—states: “The Messenger of Allah allowed the cutting of al-masad, the two qaʾimatayn, and the stick fashioned for driving an animal.” Al-Tabarani transmits it in al-Kabir, 17/18. Al-Haythami remarks in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid, 3/304: “Its chain contains Kathir b. ʿAbd Allah al-Muzani, who is unreliable.”
(1) The words enclosed in brackets are absent from manuscripts A and B.
(2) Manuscript B reads: “dakhala”; manuscript D: “raʾa dakhala.”
(3) Manuscripts B and C read: “ʿalayhi.”
(4) Manuscript B reads: “laysa.”
(5) Manuscript A reads: “laysa.”
(6) According to the Malikis, Shafiʿis, and Hanbalis, Madina is a haram (sacred precinct); the Hanafis disagree. See Majmaʿ al-anhur 1/312; al-Taj wa-l-iklil 4/262; al-Majmuʿ 7/476; al-Insaf 3/559.