Once the hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, has been established, it has perplexed some scholars.
Abū Dāwūd interpreted it by saying: “This hadith is abridged. It means one who, without right, wantonly and wrongfully cuts down a lote tree in an open wilderness, beneath which wayfarers and animals seek shade: may Allah cast his head into the Fire.”
Al-Ṭaḥāwī held that it was abrogated, citing as evidence that ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr—one of the narrators of the hadith—is reported to have cut down lote trees. He then narrated this from him through his chain of transmission. Abū Dāwūd also recorded it, in a more complete form, under no. 5241, through Ḥassān ibn Ibrāhīm, who said: “I asked Hishām ibn ʿUrwah about cutting down lote trees while he was leaning against ʿUrwah’s residence. He said, ‘Do you see these doors and door panels? They are from ʿUrwah’s lote trees. ʿUrwah used to cut them from his own land, and he said, “There is no harm in it.”’”
His version adds: “He said, ‘O Iraqi, have you come to me with an innovation?’ I replied, ‘Rather, the innovation comes from your people. I heard someone in Makkah say: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, cursed whoever cuts down lote trees.”’”
I say: Its chain of transmission is sound. It explicitly shows that ʿUrwah considered it permissible to cut down lote trees.
Al-Ṭaḥāwī said: “For ʿUrwah, given his integrity, knowledge, and lofty standing in scholarship, would not abandon something established in his view from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in favor of its opposite, except for something that necessitated this. Thus, what we have mentioned establishes that the hadith was abrogated.”
I say: More likely than all of this, in my view, is that the hadith refers to cutting down lote trees within the Sacred Precinct, as indicated by al-Ṭabarānī’s additional wording in the hadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥubshī. Thus the difficulty is resolved. All praise is due to Allah, by Whose favor righteous deeds are completed.