In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
May Allah send blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon his family and Companions.

Book of Hunting

Section: The Permissibility of Hunting

Allah Most High says:

“They ask you what has been made lawful for them. Say, ‘Lawful for you are all good things and the game caught by the hunting animals you have trained, teaching them from what Allah has taught you. So eat of what they catch for you, and mention Allah’s name over it.’” [al-Mā’idah: 4]

The good things are lawful provisions. Everything whose prohibition is not stated in the Book or the Sunnah is among these good things. This accords with the view that whatever revelation leaves unaddressed is permissible, though there is disagreement on this point.

Section

His words, “and the hunting animals you have trained” [al-Mā’idah: 4], mean “and the game caught by the hunting animals you have trained.” This uses the same elliptical construction as His saying, “Ask the town” [Yūsuf: 82]. The wording indicates that hunting was among the matters they asked about, as mentioned in the following report. It is related:

“Zayd al-Khayl and ʿAdī ibn Hātim, both of the tribe of Tayyi’, came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we have dogs that hunt wild cattle and gazelles. Some of their prey we reach while still alive, while others die, and Allah has forbidden carrion.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave them no reply—