“We slaughtered a horse during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and ate it in Medina.”

It was reported by al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Darimi, al-Bayhaqi, and Ahmad (6/345, 346, 353). The addition is from al-Darimi and from one narration of al-Bukhari.

The hadith establishes the permissibility of eating horse meat. This is the position of the four imams, with the exception of Abu Hanifah, who held it prohibited, contrary to his two companions, who agreed with the majority. This is the correct view, in light of this authentic hadith. For this reason, Imam Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi adopted it. He mentioned that Abu Hanifah’s evidence was the hadith of Khalid ibn al-Walid, attributed to the Prophet:

“It is not lawful to eat the meat of horses, mules, and donkeys.”

However, it is a rejected hadith with a weak chain of transmission, which cannot be cited as proof even when it does not conflict with something more authentic—so how could it be when it contradicts two authentic hadiths, as you can see?

I have explained its weakness and its defects in al-Silsilah al-Da'ifah, no. 1149.

360 — “There will surely come upon you rulers who bring the worst of people close to themselves and delay the prayers beyond their appointed times. Whoever lives to see that among them must not become a local chief, a police officer, a tax collector, or a treasurer.”

Ibn Hibban reported it in his Sahih, saying (1558—Mawarid): Ahmad ibn Ali ibn al-Muthanna informed us; Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Marwazi related to us; Jarir ibn Abd al-Hamid informed us, from Ruqbah ibn Mithqalah, from Ja'far ibn Iyas, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Masud, from Abu Sa'id and Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said—and he then cited it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, apart from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Masud, who is trustworthy, and Ahmad ibn Ali ibn al-Muthanna, who is Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, a trustworthy hadith master. Abu Ya'la also reported it in his Musnad, and al-Haythami said in al-Majma' (5/240):