[Commentary]

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—relates from ʿAbdullāh ibn Mughafal, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ forbade al-khadhf (propelling small stones with the fingers) and said, “It kills no game,” while another narration has, “It does not hunt any game,” and, “nor does it wound an enemy; rather, it puts out an eye and breaks a tooth.”

The scholars explain that al-khadhf is done by placing a small pebble between the index finger and the thumb—either resting it on the thumb and flicking it with the index finger, or resting it on the index finger and flicking it with the thumb. The Prophet ﷺ prohibited this practice, reasoning that it can put out an eye or break a tooth if it strikes someone, “it does not hunt game” because the stone lacks penetrating force, and “it does not repel an enemy,” meaning it is useless against an adversary, for enemies are repelled by arrows, not by tiny pebbles.

A relative of Ibn Mughafal once went out using this pebble-thrower. Ibn Mughafal forbade him, saying, “I have informed you that the Prophet ﷺ prohibited al-khadhf.” Later he saw the man doing it again and said, “I have already told you that the Prophet ﷺ forbade it, and here you are still doing it! I shall never speak to you again.” He then boycotted him for defying the Prophet’s ﷺ command.

The same attitude was shown by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar toward one of his sons. Ibn ʿUmar had narrated the hadith, “Do not prevent Allah’s maidservants from attending Allah’s mosques.” One of his sons, Bilāl ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, replied, “By Allah, we shall certainly prevent them,” arguing that women and people had changed after the Prophet’s ﷺ time. When Bilāl swore, “By Allah, we shall certainly prevent them,” his father ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar turned on him and reviled him harshly, more severely than he had ever done before, saying, “I relate to you a