Moreover, it is unanimously acknowledged that those ḥadiths are Medinan, so the permission to eat horse-meat came after the revelation of the sūrah.

These efforts at inference are therefore insufficient as proof. Even if we granted that the preposition lam in li-tarkabūhā (“so that you may ride them”) indicates causation, we would not concede that it restricts benefit to riding and adornment, for everyone agrees that horses provide other advantages as well; the verse merely lists their most common uses.

The argument based on conjunctive association is weak and inadmissible, especially when set against these clear, sound ḥadiths.

As for the mention of Divine favour, it is expressed in terms of what was most familiar to the Arabs, who delighted in the beauty of their horses as they set out and returned, in riding them for hunting—one of the greatest pleasures—and in using them during raids and in confronting the enemy in attack and retreat.

Nor is it necessary that all of Allah’s blessings be enumerated in one place; His sublime favours and immense bounties are many and well known.

The analogy that likens horses to domestic donkeys is ignored in the presence of explicit textual evidence.

Regarding the ḥadith transmitted by al-Ṭaḥāwī, it contains ʿIkrima ibn ʿAmmār reporting from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr. Al-Ṭaḥāwī said, “The ḥadith-scholars declare him weak.” Ibn Ḥajar added, “Especially in his narrations from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr.” Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān said, “His reports from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr are weak.” Al-Bukhārī remarked, “His narration from Yaḥyā is confused,” and the critical comments of the leading ḥadith authorities about him are numerous.

As for the narration attributed to Khālid ibn al-Walīd, the scholars have deemed it anomalous and objectionable, for it states that he was present at Khaybar, which is incorrect—he embraced Islam only after that expedition.

Hadith 7
Ibn ʿAbbās reported: “Khālid ibn al-Walīd and I entered the house of Maymūnah with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. A ḍabb maḥnūdh (a spiny-tailed lizard roasted on hot stones) was brought in, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached out his hand toward it.

One of the women in Maymūnah’s house said, ‘Tell the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what he means to eat.’ I said, ‘Will you eat it? It is a ḍabb!’

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then withdrew his hand and did not eat. I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, is it forbidden?’

He replied, ‘No, but it is not found in the land of my people, and I feel a natural aversion to it.’

Khālid said, ‘So I pulled it toward me and ate it while the Prophet ﷺ looked on.’”

Maḥnūdh: meat roasted on raḍīf—stones heated in the fire.