for that reason, al-Dhahabī’s abridgment reads: “I said to Jābir, ‘They claim…’” without identifying him further. Allah knows best. Abū Dāwūd also recorded it (2/320) through Ibn Jurayj, who said: “Amr ibn Dīnār informed me, from Abū al-Sha‘thā’,” relating the report in abbreviated form and likewise omitting the words, “The people…used to…” Thus, the hadith returns to the first chain: Amr from Abū al-Sha‘thā’.

(Benefit) Al-Hāfiz said in his commentary on this hadith:

“Using this as evidence for permissibility is valid only in cases for which no text has been reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, declaring them forbidden. Numerous reports, however, have concurred on that prohibition. An explicit statement of prohibition takes precedence over the general rule of permissibility and over analogy.”

I say: For that reason, the author—may Allah preserve him—did not handle the matter well when he related the view of Ibn Abbās and Mālik permitting beasts of prey and similar animals without explicitly declaring it invalid, despite its conflict with the reports to which al-Hāfiz referred. The author himself cited some of those reports, but he did not follow them by citing the text that expressly declares them forbidden. He thereby left readers wide latitude to choose that view because it accords with the apparent meaning of the Quran. Few realize that this apparent meaning must not be followed when the authentic Sunnah expressly states otherwise. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, spoke the truth when he said: “Indeed, I have been given the Quran and its like along with it.”