The Locust and the Fish

05/12/2013 02:50

Published on IslamToday - English (http://en.islamtoday.net)

Home > The Locust and the Fish

The Locust and the Fish

Purification [1]
Date:
Wed, 01/01/2003
Author:
ISLAMTODAY.NET [2]
Body:
Ibn `Umar relates that Allahs Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Made lawful for you are
the flesh of two dead animals and two types of blood. As for the two dead animals, they are
the locust and the fish. And as for the two types of blood, they are the blood of the spleen and
the liver.
This hadth is related in Musnad Ahmad, Sunan Ibn Mjah, Sunan al-Draqutn, and Sunan
al-Bayhaq, among other books.
This wording of this hadth has been attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) by way of
Ibn `Umar, but all the chains of transmission that do so are weak, since they all contain within
them one or more of the children of Zayd b. Aslam, all of whom are weak narrators.
There is another narration of this hadth recorded in Sunan al-Bayhaq that is authentic.
However, it attributes the statement to Ibn `Umar and not to the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Scholars of hadth like al-Draqutn and Ab Zur`ah have authenticated this statement as
being a statement of Ibn `Umar. Nevertheless, its meaning can be attributed to the Prophet
(peace be upon him) as Ibn al-Qayyim observes:
It is a good hadth. Though it is a statement of a Companion, it has the strength of a statement of
the Prophet (peace be upon him), because when a Companion says that something was made
permissible or made unlawful for them, it means that its permissibility or unlawfulness was so
decreed by the Prophet (peace be upon him). [Zd al-Ma`d (3/392)]
What Ibn al-Qayyim said is correct. The hadth is indeed authentic as a statement of Ibn `Umar. It does not
come to us from the Prophet (peace be upon him) with an authentic chain of transmission. However, it has the
strength of a statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him), since its wording indicates that a decree of
lawfulness was given by him. This is a well-known principle in the science of hadth.
The meaning of the hadth:
The hadth declares that these things were made lawful, meaning they were made lawful by Allah for Muslims
to eat, since it is only Allah who makes things lawful and unlawful. It can be assumed that this hadth was
mentioned after the verse was revealed in which Allah says: Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, and the flesh
of swine. [Srah al-Midah: 3]
Its legal implications:
This hadth is evidence that the dead of the sea are lawful to eat. It says in the Qurn: Made lawful for you are
http://en.islamtoday.net/print/3277

Page 1 of 3

The Locust and the Fish

05/12/2013 02:50

the game of the sea and its food, a provision for you and for the travelers. [Srah al-Midah: 96]
A good number of Companions, including Ab Bakr, Ab Ayyb, and Ibn `Abbs have explained that the game
of the sea refers to what is acquired by fishing and that its food refers to the sea animals that have died in it.
[Tafsr al-Tabar (7/63-69) and Sunan al-Bayhaq (9/253-255)]
Scholars, however, have differed regarding the dead fish that float belly-up upon the surface of the water when
its occurrence is not as a result of a recent event.
The first opinion is that such fish are lawful to eat. This, as we already mentioned, was the opinion of Ab Bakr,
Ab Ayyb, and Ibn `Abbs and a number of other Companions. Ab Bakr, for instance, said plainly: The fish
floating upon the surface of the water are lawful, so whoever wants to do so may eat of it. [Musannaf `Abd alRazzq (4/503) with an authentic chain of transmission]
This opinion was held by a number of Successors and jurists, like `At, Ab Rabh, Mahkl, Ibrhm al-Nakha`,
and Ab Thawr. It is also the view of the Mlik, al-Shf`, and Ahmad b. Hanbal as well as their respective
schools of law.
Of course, the proponents of this view cite the hadth under discussion as evidence. They also cite the hadth
where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said about the sea: Its water purifies and its dead are lawful. [alMuwatta, Sunan al-Tirmidh, Sunan al-Nas, Sunan Ab Dawd, Sunan Ibn Mjah, Musnad Ahmad, and Sunan
al-Daraqutn, among others].
It is the generality of both these hadth, as well as of the verse mentioned above, that makes their case. The
wording of these texts is sweepingly general, not allowing for the exception of anything.
They also cite as evidence the hadth related by Jbir about the expedition under the leadership of Ab
`Ubaydah that was faced with starvation. While they were traveling along the coast came across the carcass of a
whale form which they ate and from which they took some of the meat with them as a provision. When they
returned to Madinah, they informed the Prophet (peace be upon him) of what they did. Then he said to them:
This is a provision that Allah had brought forth for you. Do you have with you any of the meat to give to us to
eat? They later sent some of the meat to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he ate from it. [Sahh al-Bukhr
and Sahh Muslim]
This story is evidence that the dead of the sea are lawful to eat. It also shows us that it makes no difference
whether the animal died at sea or after it was cast out upon the land, since neither the Companions nor the
Prophet (peace be upon him) concerned themselves with ascertaining how the whale had died. One of the wellknown principles of Islamic jurisprudence is that whenever the Prophet (peace be upon him) refrained from
inquiring into the details of a situation when various possibilities existed, it indicates that the ruling is general and
applies regardless of the circumstances.
The second opinion on this matter is that it is disliked in Islamic Law to eat the dead fish that float upon the
surface of the water. This was the opinion of Jbir b. Zayd and T`s. It is also the view that was held by Ab
Hanfah and his collegues.
They cite a hadth related by Jbir that states: From what the sea casts out or leaves behind you may eat, but
from what dies at sea and floats to the surface you may not eat. [Sunan Ab Dwd and Sunan Ibn Mjah]
However, Ab Dwd says: Sufyn al-Thawr, Ayyb, and Hammd relate this hadth from Ab Zubayr as being
a statement of Jbir. This hadth has been attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) with a weak chain of
transmission form Ibn Ab Dhib from Ab Zubayr from Jbir.
Besides the fact that it cannot be authentically attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him), it has another
defect even when it is related merely as a statement of Jbir. Ab Zubayr relates it without saying decisively that
he heard it from Jbir. For a narrator like Ab Zubayr, this is a problem, since he was known for relating things
that he had heard indirectly.
http://en.islamtoday.net/print/3277

Page 2 of 3

The Locust and the Fish

05/12/2013 02:50

A good number of scholars have declared this to be weak, including ``Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbl, Ibn al-Qayyim, and
more recently al-Albn.
Al-Nawaw writes:
As for the hadth that is related from Jbir, scholars of hadth are agreed on the fact that it is weak
and that it cannot be used as evidence even if no other evidence exists to contradict it. How, then,
can it be used when it is contradicted by other evidence? [Sharh Sahh Muslim (13/86-87)]
His hadth definitely cannot be attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him). The most it could possibly be is
the personal opinion of Jbir.
The strongest opinion on the matter is the opinion held by the majority of scholars, since this is the opinion that
is supported by the evidence. And Allah knows best.
Some benefits of this hadth:
1. The hadth indicates that it is unlawful to eat carrion and blood. This is supported by a considerable amount of
evidence from the Qurn and Sunnah. The Qurn makes it clear that the type of blood that is forbidden is blood
that pours forth from an animal. Allah says: Say: I find not in what is revealed to me anything forbidden for
someone to eat except for carrion, blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine [Srah al-An`m: 145]
It is a matter of consensus among scholars that the blood that pours forth from an animal when it is slaughtered
is forbidden and that the blood that remains in the blood vessels of the meat is overlooked. This is because
Islamic Law seeks to make things easy for the people. This is a distinction that it has over the Law of the people
who had gone before, especially the Jews. Matters of purity were quite severe for them. They were not allowed
to consume the blood that remained within the meat. No doubt, this was a great difficulty. Islam came to make
matters easy, prohibiting only the blood that pours forth upon slaughtering the animal.
2. The hadth tells us that it is permissible to eat locusts. `Abd al-Allah b. Ab Awf relates: I accompanied
Allahs Messenger on six or seven campaigns and on those campaigns we used to eat locusts with him. [Sahh
al-Bukhr and Sahh Muslim]
3. The hadth tells us that it is permissible to eat the dead from the animals that live in the sea.
4. It mentions the permissibility of eating the liver and the spleen.

Purification
Source URL: http://en.islamtoday.net/artshow-377-3277.htm
Links:
[1] http://en.islamtoday.net/artlist-12-377.htm
[2] http://en.islamtoday.net/author-213.htm

http://en.islamtoday.net/print/3277

Page 3 of 3