(1) It is also narrated by Abu Dawud (2/6); al-Nasaʾi (2/207); al-Tirmidhi (2/350–351); Ibn Majah (2/284); al-Bayhaqi (9/247); Ahmad (3/463; 4/140); and al-Tahawi in Sharh al-Maʿani (2/306). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (pp. 54–55) writes: “The Prophet forbade slaughtering with a fingernail, giving as the reason that it is the knife of the Abyssinians, just as he explained that the tooth is bone. The jurists have differed about the rationale. The scholars of opinion (ahl al-raʾy) said the reason is that slaughter with a tooth or nail resembles strangulation—or is liable to lead to it—and an animal that dies by strangulation (al-munkhaniqa) is unlawful. On this basis they allowed slaughter with a detached tooth or nail, because using a separate sharp tool involves no strangulation. The majority, however, prohibit it absolutely, for the Prophet excluded the tooth and nail from the instruments that make the blood flow; this shows that, although sharp, they are not valid tools for ritual slaughter. Had the reason been fear of strangulation, he would not have singled them out. Moreover, a merely preventive consideration (mazinna) is treated as a real cause only when the wisdom behind the ruling is hidden or indeterminate, which is not the case here. Their view also contradicts the explicit reasoning given by the Messenger of Allah in the hadith. … His statement, ‘As for the fingernail, it is the knife of the Abyssinians,’ immediately after, ‘I shall explain that to you,’ indicates that this description—that it is the knife of the Abyssinians—has a bearing on the prohibition: it is either the actual cause, an indicator of the cause, or part of the causal complex. The Abyssinians keep their nails long and slaughter with them, unlike other nations, so the prohibition may be intended to prevent resemblance to a practice peculiar to them.” Al-Hafiz summarises in Fath al-Bari: “The phrase, ‘As for the fingernail, it is the knife of the Abyssinians,’ means: they are unbelievers and you have been forbidden to imitate them. This was stated by Ibn al-Salah and followed by al-Nawawi. The objection was raised that, if that were the case, slaughter with a knife—or with any implement used by unbelievers—should likewise be forbidden. The answer is that slaughter with a knife is the original norm; for other implements, resemblance to a particular group is what is considered. Hence people would ask about the permissibility of slaughtering with tools other than a knife and its equivalents, as will be explained clearly below.”