‘Āzib, Usayd ibn al-Hudayr, Dhū al-Ghurra, and others. On one occasion he said:

“Perform ablution after eating camel meat, but not after eating sheep meat. Pray in sheepfolds, but do not pray in the places where camels rest.”

Whoever performs ablution after eating camel meat is protected against the rancour and hardness of heart that afflict those who habitually eat it without performing ablution, such as the Bedouins. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) referred to this in his saying recorded in the two Sahīh collections:

“Harshness and hardness of heart are found among loud-voiced camel owners, while tranquillity is found among those who tend sheep.”

Two opinions are reported from Ahmad concerning whether ablution should be performed after eating other kinds of prohibited meat. These rest on whether the ruling is specific to camel meat, or whether prohibited meat warrants ablution even more than permissible meat that contains some harmful quality.

The other authors among the followers of al-Shāfi‘ī and other imams agreed with Ahmad on this principle. They recognized that anyone who considered this ruling abrogated by the abandonment of ablution after eating food touched by fire was far from the mark. For in the hadith, he distinguished between the two kinds of meat, making clear that the operative cause lies in what distinguishes them, not in what they share.

They likewise affirmed what the hadith entails: that ablution should be performed after eating camel meat, whether raw or cooked. Moreover, this hadith came after the abrogation; hence his statement concerning sheep meat:

“If you wish, you need not perform ablution.”

Furthermore, abrogation was established only through his omitting ablution