except by a diminution of one’s strength and the loss of half of it.
Abu Ja‘far recited it bi-shaqq, with a fathah on the shin. Both are dialectal variants, like ratl and ritl.
“Indeed, your Lord is Most Kind, Most Merciful”—toward His creation, in that He has made these benefits available to them.
“And [He created] horses, mules, and donkeys for you to ride and as an adornment. And He creates what you do not know. (8)”
“And horses” means: He created horses. The word “horses” is a collective noun whose singular is not formed from the same word, like the terms for camels and women. “And mules and donkeys, for you to ride and as an adornment” means that He made them an adornment for you, in addition to the benefits found in them.
Those who held horse meat to be forbidden cited this verse as evidence. This was the view of Ibn ‘Abbas, who recited this verse and said, “These are for riding.” [This view was also adopted by] (1) al-Hakam, Malik, and Abu Hanifah.
A group held horse meat to be permissible. This was the view of al-Hasan, Shurayh, ‘Ata’, and Sa‘id ibn Jubayr; it was also the position of al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad, and Ishaq. (2)
Those who held it permissible said: The verse is not intended to establish what is lawful and unlawful; rather, its purpose is for Allah to acquaint His servants with His blessings and to draw their attention to the perfection of His power and wisdom. They cited the following evidence:
‘Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nu‘aymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma‘il related to us; Sulayman ibn Harb related to us; Hammad ibn Zayd related to us, from ‘Amr—namely, Ibn Dinar—from Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, from Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “On the day of Khaybar, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the meat of domestic donkeys and permitted horse meat.” (3)
Abu al-Faraj al-Muzaffar ibn Isma‘il al-Tamimi informed us; Abu al-Qasim Hamzah ibn Yusuf al-Sahmi informed us; the hadith master Abu Ahmad ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Adi informed us; al-Hasan ibn al-Faraj related to us; ‘Amr ibn Khalid related to us; ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Karim related to us, from ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah, from Jabir: that they used to eat horse meat during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. (4)