In another wording preserved by Muslim it reads, “the leg of a wild ass.” A second version has, “the side of a wild ass,” and a third, “the rump of a wild ass.”
The compiler comments: The point of this ḥadīth is that the Prophet ﷺ assumed the animal had been hunted specifically for him, and a muḥrim (a person in a state of iḥrām) is not allowed to eat game that has been taken on his behalf.
Uncommon expressions
• Ṣaʿb: pronounced with an open ṣād and a silent ʿayn.
• Jathāmah: with a fatḥah on the jīm and mīm, and a doubled thāʾ.
• Al-Abwāʾ and Waddān: The vocalization of al-Abwāʾ has already been given; it is the place now known as Mastūrah (1). Waddān is a nearby locality, pronounced with an open wāw and a doubled soft dāl, followed by an alif and a nūn.
• lam naruddahu (“we only returned it”): the verb may be read with an open or a closed dāl.
• innā ḥurum (“we are in iḥrām”): the hamzah of innā may be kasrah or fatḥah. With kasrah it opens a new sentence; with fatḥah a causal lām is understood, the full sense being, “We only returned it to you because we are in iḥrām.” The word ḥurum, with a ḍammah on both ḥāʾ and rāʾ, means “those in a state of iḥrām.”
Overall meaning
When the Prophet ﷺ set out for the Farewell Pilgrimage and reached either al-Abwāʾ or Waddān—two places close to one another—Ṣaʿb ibn Jathāmah presented him with a wild ass as a gift. The Prophet’s noble habit, rooted in his famous humility, was to accept gifts regardless of their value or the status of the giver. On this occasion, however, he returned the gift because he thought the animal had been hunted for his sake, and he preferred to avoid anything doubtful. Game that a person who is not in iḥrām hunts specifically for a muḥrim is unlawful for the latter. The Prophet ﷺ therefore explained the reason for returning the gift—that they were muḥrimūn—so that Ṣaʿb would feel no hurt at seeing his gift refused.
Points derived from the ḥadīth
- The Prophet ﷺ accepted gifts in order to gladden the hearts of those who offered them.
- A gift may be declined when a legitimate obstacle prevents its acceptance, and the giver should be told the reason so that his mind is at ease and misgivings are removed.
- It is forbidden for a muḥrim to eat game that a non-muḥrim has hunted on his behalf.