hadith is unknown. It is found in none of the books of hadith or jurisprudence, despite the jurists’ need for an authoritative text on this issue. Nor did he provide any chain of transmission for it. How, then, can something be believed when there is no evidence of its authenticity? Indeed, the established evidence shows that no such report exists.
Moreover, if taken at face value, this ruling which he reports from Ali, together with the statement that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) approved it, would contradict the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the consensus of the Muslims. For it is authentically established that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
“No liability is incurred for harm caused by an animal.”
This is recorded in both Sahīh collections and elsewhere. Scholars unanimously regard it as authentic and have accepted it (1), affirmed its truth, and acted upon it.
The term al-ʿajmāʾ (a non-speaking animal) is the feminine form of aʿjam (non-speaking), and every beast falls within this designation, such as a cow, a sheep, and other animals. If such an animal is grazing in the usual pastures and gets loose during the day without any negligence on its owner’s part, then comes upon a donkey and kills it, or
(1) The hadith is narrated from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—in al-Bukhārī, 2/130 (Book of Zakat, “Chapter: One-Fifth Is Due on Rikāz [Buried Treasure]”). Its text reads: “No liability is incurred for harm caused by an animal, a well, or a mine; one-fifth is due on buried treasure.” The hadith also appears elsewhere in al-Bukhārī (see Fath al-Bārī, hadith nos. 2355 and 6913).
Ibn Hajar states in Fath al-Bārī, 12/255: “Al-ajmā … means ‘a beast.’ … Jubār—pronounced with a damma on the jīm and an ungeminated bā—means an uncompensated loss for which nothing is payable. Ibn Wahb transmitted this with a chain from Ibn Shihāb. Mālik defined it as ‘that for which no blood money is due’; al-Tirmidhī related this. … Al-Tirmidhī said: ‘Some scholars explained that al-ajmā is an animal that has broken loose from its owner; its owner owes no compensation for any harm it causes while loose.’”
The hadith is also found in Muslim, 3/1334–35 (Book of Legal Punishments, “Chapter: Injuries Caused by Animals …”); Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4/273 (Book of Blood Money, “Chapter: Animals, Mines, and Wells Entail No Liability”); Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 2/77 (Book of Zakat, “Chapter: The Report That Injuries Caused by Animals Entail No Liability …”); and Sunan al-Nasāī, 5/33–34 (Book of Zakat, “Chapter: Mines”). It is also found in Sunan Ibn Mājah, Musnad Ahmad, and Mālik’s Muwatta.