this, compilers tend to use the aforementioned expressions, “Its narrators are among those used in the Sahīh,” or, “Its narrators are trustworthy,” rather than the other expression, “Its chain is sound,” or the like, lest the chain contain a disqualifying defect that did not become apparent to them in the course of compilation. Remember this, for it is important and has been overlooked by many scholars. Praise be to Allah, by whose grace righteous deeds are brought to completion.
Then I found a corroborating report for the hadith, transmitted by Ubayd Allāh ibn Mūsā: Ibn Abī Dhiʾb narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī, from Ubayd Allāh ibn Abd Allāh, from Ibn Abbās:
“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade restraining a living creature in order to kill it, and strictly forbade castrating livestock.”
Al-Bazzār (p. 182 of al-Zawāʾid) and al-Bayhaqī (10/24) narrated it. Al-Bayhaqī declared it defective on the grounds that it was mursal (missing the Companion link) and that the mention of castration was al-Zuhrī’s own statement. I remain unconvinced by this criticism, because all the narrators in the chain are trustworthy and were used by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim. Hence, after citing the hadith in al-Zawāʾid, al-Haythamī said: “Sound.”
He also cited a corroborating report through another route, from Muqaddam ibn Dāwūd: al-Nadr ibn Abd al-Jabbār narrated to us; Ibn Lahīa narrated to us, from Atā, from Ibn Abbās, as a report traced back to the Prophet, with the wording:
“There is to be no castration in Islam and no construction of a church.”
Ibn Lahīa had a poor memory, and al-Muqaddam was weak.
Al-Bukhārī also narrated it in al-Tārīkh (3/2).
Ibn Hibbān (1072, 1660) narrated from Bakr ibn al-Ashajj, from Ubayd ibn Yalā, who said: “I heard Abū Ayyūb al-Ansārī say:
‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade restraining an animal in order to kill it.’”
All its narrators are trustworthy except Ubayd ibn Yalā, whom I could not identify.
There are many hadiths in the two Sahīhs and elsewhere prohibiting the restraint of animals in order to kill them. Concerning the construction just mentioned, there is another hadith, but it is extremely weak. I cite it to explain its defect: