Glossary of Unfamiliar Terms
Hudhayl: A well-known tribe of the Mudar confederation whose dwellings are still found near Mecca.
Layth: Spelt with the Arabic letter thāʾ; a famous Mudar tribe descended from Layth ibn Bakr ibn Kinānah.
Lā yuʿḍad shajaruhā: “Its trees are not to be cut.”
Lā yukhtalā khalāhā: “Its fresh herbage is not to be mown or severed.”
li-munshid: The active participle of anshada, meaning one who publicly announces a found item.
bi-khayri an-naẓarayni: “The better of the two options,” i.e. accepting blood-money or exacting retribution.
an yūdiya: With a silent wāw; that the killer—or his heirs—pays the blood-money to the victim’s heirs.
Abū Shāh: Pronounced with shīn, followed by alif and hāʾ; it is not written with a tāʾ.
al-idhkhir: A fragrant plant with fine roots and low growth, well known in the Hijaz.

Lessons Derived from the Ḥadith

1. The report proves that Mecca was conquered by force (ʿanwatan), for Allah “restrained the elephant from it” [ḥabasa Allāhu ʿannā al-fīl] (Allah withheld the elephant from us) and gave His Messenger and the believers mastery over it. Al-Nawawī said in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: One of the sanctuary’s distinctive rulings is that its inhabitants are not to be fought. If they commit aggression against people who uphold justice, some jurists maintained that it is forbidden to fight them; they should merely be confined until they return to obedience and submit to just governance. The majority, however, held that they may be fought if there is no other way to curb their rebellion, because fighting rebels is a right of Allah that must not be neglected, and safeguarding that right within the sanctuary is even more pressing than elsewhere.

2. Mecca is inviolable; it was never made lawful for anyone and will remain inviolate forever. Therefore its trees and thorns are not to be cut, nor is its vegetation to be harvested or mown. This underscores its honour and sanctity before Allah, Exalted is He.

3. Exempted from that ruling are plants cultivated by humans, anything already found cut, the grazing of livestock, truffles, and the idhkhir plant—all of which are permissible.

4. Lost property found within the sanctuary is lawful only for a person who intends to announce it until its owner is located. If all hope of finding the owner fades, it is given in charity on the owner’s behalf, with the intention of reimbursing him should he later claim it.

5. Writing down knowledge preserves it from being lost. Allah encouraged writing when He said, “He taught by the pen; He taught humankind what it did not know” (Q 96:4–5), and He magnified it by saying, “Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe” (Q 68:1). Writing, therefore, brings benefits for both this world and the next.