2322 — “Whoever eats meat should perform minor ablution.”

Ahmad (4/180; 5/289) recorded it from Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ, from Sulaymān ibn Abī al-Rabīʿ—concerning whom Ahmad said: “He is Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from whom Shuʿbah and Layth ibn Saʿd narrated”—from al-Qāsim, the client of Muʿāwiyah, who said: “I entered the mosque of Damascus and saw some people gathered around an elderly man who was relating hadith to them. I asked, ‘Who is this?’ They replied, ‘Sahl ibn al-Ḥanẓaliyyah.’ I then heard him say, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say…’” He then mentioned the hadith.

I say: This is a good chain, now that Imam Ahmad has clarified for us the identity of this Sulaymān ibn Abī al-Rabīʿ. For after attributing it to Ahmad, al-Haythamī said (1/248): “I have not found anyone who wrote a biographical notice on him.” This is indeed the case: no one discussed him under the name occurring in this chain, not even al-Ḥāfiẓ in al-Taʿjīl. May Allah have mercy on Imam Ahmad—how vast was his knowledge and how numerous his beneficial observations! The Sulaymān from whom Layth and Shuʿbah narrated is Ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿĪsā; he is also called Sulaymān ibn Yasār, and Sulaymān ibn Anas ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dimashqī, as stated in al-Tahdhīb. I say: It should also be added: “And he is called Sulaymān ibn Abī al-Rabīʿ.” I say: He is trustworthy. Al-Qāsim is Ibn Abī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the companion of Abū Umāmah, and his hadith is good.

A benefit: The command in the hadith indicates recommendation, except in the case of camel meat, for which it indicates obligation, since a distinction between it and other meats has been established. For they asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) whether minor ablution was required after eating camel meat?