Before Islam, the Arabs lived a lawless life. They were only restrained by their traditions, which allowed them much that no divine religion could sanction. When they embraced Islam, they realized that they had to bring all their social values, traditions and personal behavior in line with its teachings. Islam gave them a sense of responsibility that prompted them to examine their every action before doing it in order to determine whether it was acceptable or not. Even when they needed something urgently, they would not embark on it unless they were sure that Islam approved of it. They would prefer to go hungry than that they should eat something unlawful. Their outlook is totally different to people’s approach to man—made laws.
Most people would not care for the law when they feel that it stood between them and their immediate interests. If they can make a gain that the law does not allow, they would take it once they realize that they are unlikely to be caught. A God—fearing Muslim wants to make sure first that Islam approves of his action before embarking on it. He realizes that his real gain is in refraining from what Islam does not allow, because that would bring him God’s acceptance, which is far more valuable to him than any material gain, be it in wealth or position.
In difficult situations, the need may be immediate. In the old days, a hungry traveler would do anything to eat. As people traveled in the desert or countryside, they often needed to kill a wild animal or a bird to eat. Islam permits this, provided that the animal or bird is not the property of anyone. However, people traveling to Makkah to perform the pilgrimage or the Umrah are not allowed to kill any animal when they are in the state of consecration, or ihraam. The Qur’an states: “Lawful to you is all water—game, and whatever food the sea brings forth, as a provision for you and for travelers. However, you are forbidden land—game as long as you are in the state of consecration (or ihraam).” (5: 96)
The following Hadith gives us an insight of how Muslims examined their actions to make sure that they did not contravene Islamic teachings. “Abu Qatadah traveled with the Prophet (peace be upon him) as did many of his companions. A group of them, including him, lagged behind at some stage. They were in the state of consecration while Abu Qatadah was not. They spotted a zebra, but he did not see it at first. Therefore, they left it alone. When he saw it, he mounted his horse attacked the zebra and killed it. When he (cooked the meat and) ate, they joined him, but then they regretted that. When they caught up with the Prophet, they reported what happened to him. The Prophet asked whether they had any of its meat left. They told him that they had a leg. The Prophet took it and ate of it.” (Related by Malik, Ahmad, Al—Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood and Al—Nassaie.)
This case took place at the time when the Prophet and his companions traveled for their pilgrimage. The Hadith does not tell us the reason why Abu Qatadah did not join his companions in entering into the state of consecration. His group took a different route traveling by the seaside, according to the Prophet’s instructions. Therefore, their meeqat, or point of entry into consecration, was different. We note how Abu Qatadah’s fellow travelers did not point out the zebra to him. They even refused to hand him his whip, knowing his intention to use it in capturing the zebra. They realized that they could not eat of land—game and they had no part in taking it. They even regretted eating from it, even though the person who killed it was not in consecration. It all shows how conscious they were of the importance of bringing all their actions in line with Islamic teachings.
The fact that the Prophet ate of the meat of the zebra makes clear that a person in consecration may eat of the meat of land—game, provided that it was not captured or killed for him. He must not help in capturing it in any way, not even by indicating its hiding place or pointing it out to its hunter, or scaring it so that it moves.
The case is different with water—game. Anything that lives in water is permissible during the time when a pilgrim is in the state of consecration. Moreover, there are no special requirements for water animals in the way they are killed. Jabir reports that he joined a military expedition under the command of Abu Ubaydah traveling to an area by the sea. “We were extremely hungry. A dead whale, known as Anbar, was washed up on the shore. We never saw anything as big as that. We ate of its meat for half a month. Abu Ubaydah took one of its bones and it was taller than a man riding a horse. When we arrived back in Madinah, we mentioned this to the Prophet. He said: ‘Eat of it, as it is something God provided for you. Let us taste it if you have anything left of it.’ One of them brought him some of its meat and he ate of it.” (Related by Malik, Ahmad, Al—Bukhari, Al—Tirmidhi, Al—Nassaie and Ibn Majah.)
We note that in both incidents the Prophet asked for a portion of the meat and he made sure to eat it in front of his companions. He thus demonstrated that it was permissible for them. Had there been any doubt as to its permissibility, the Prophet would not have touched it. Thus, the second Hadith tells us that any sea or water animal is permissible to eat, even when it is washed up dead. This is an aspect of God’s grace, because it puts at man’s disposal the great resources of fish and other water animals, without which food would be very scarce in our world.
Practical guidance in respect of food and its permissibility was always provided by the Prophet. Hence, his companions needed only to say that the Prophet ate this or that to indicate that it was permissible. We have many Hadiths that are reported mainly to indicate such permissibility. Abdullah ibn Jaafar reports: “Some meat was brought to the Prophet, and people were keen to give him a good share of it. He said: ‘The most tasty meat is that of the animal’s back.’” (Related by Ahmad, Al—Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.)
Zahdam reports: “We were visiting Abu Musa Al—Ashari when chicken meat was brought to him. He said to me, ‘come and eat. I saw God’s messenger eating it.’” (Related by Al—Bukhari and Muslim.) Safeenah reports: “I ate bird’s meat with the Prophet.” (Related by Al—Tirmidhi and Abu Dawood.)
These last three Hadiths merely tell us that the Prophet did not hesitate to eat meat of all types, as long as it was not of the types God has forbidden us, such as pig’s meat and carrion.
