سورة المائدة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jamil ibn Darraj said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "A man sends a dog after game, and the dog catches the game, and the man does not have a knife with which to slaughter the animal — should he let the dog kill the animal and eat from it?" He said: "There is no problem; Allah has said: فَکُلُواْ مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ [so eat of that which they catch for you]. And it is not proper to eat from what the cheetah has killed."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ali (peace be upon him) said in a writing concerning the word of Allah: وَ ما عَلَّمْتُمْ مِنَ الْجَوارِحِ مُکَلِّبینَ [and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt]: "What is meant is dogs."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrated from his forefathers: Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) was asked about the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ ما عَلَّمْتُمْ مِنَ الْجَوارِحِ مُکَلِّبینَ [and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt]. He said: "The intent is dogs, and 'al-jarih' means 'the earner', from which is the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: 'and He knows what you have done during the day' (An'am/60), meaning what you earn during the day."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: My father used to give fatwa and used to practice taqiyya, and we used to fear regarding hunting with falcons and hawks, but now we have no fear, and we do not consider their game lawful unless we ourselves slaughter the prey with a knife before it dies; for in the book of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (peace be upon him) it is [written] that Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: وَمَا عَلَّمْتُم مِّنَ الْجَوَارِحِ مُکَلِّبِینَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَکُمُ اللهُ فَکُلُواْ مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ [and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt — you teach them of what Allah has taught you — so eat of that which they catch for you]; what is meant is dogs.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Bakr al-Hadrami said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the hunting of falcons, hawks, cheetahs and dogs. He said: "Do not eat anything before you slaughter it yourself so that it dies, except for the game of dogs." I said: "What if it kills it?" He said: "Eat it, for Allah the Exalted has said: وَمَا عَلَّمْتُم مِّنَ الْجَوَارِحِ مُکَلِّبِینَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَکُمُ اللهُ فَکُلُوا مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ وَاذْکُرُوا اسْمَ اللهِ [And what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt — you teach them of what Allah has taught you — so eat of that which they catch for you and mention the name of Allah over it]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Zurara said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said regarding the game which a hunting dog catches: "Whenever the owner of the dog says Bismillah when releasing it, he may eat of it, even if [the dog] has killed the prey. And if the dog has eaten from it, then eat what remains. And if the dog is untrained, he should train it at that moment, and at the same time as he sends it after the game — if he does so, he may eat of it, because that animal has been taught to hunt. But other than hunting dogs, whatever a cheetah or hunting falcon and the like catch — do not eat of it, unless the prey is brought alive so that you can slaughter it, because Allah the Mighty says: مُکَلِّبِینَ [training them to hunt]; and anything other than dogs, whatever it hunts, its game is not to be eaten unless you are able to slaughter it."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Know — may Allah have mercy on you — that when a bird takes flight, it belongs to whoever catches it, unless it has a known owner to whom it must be returned. It is not permissible to take chicks from their nest on a mountain, or in a well, or in a reed-bed, until they become able to fly. When you wish to send the dog after game, say Bismillah, and if you find the prey alive, slaughter it yourself; and if the dog has killed it, eat of it, even if it has eaten from it, because Allah has said: فَکُلُوا مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ [So eat of that which they catch for you]. And if you have no knife with which to slaughter the prey, release the dog upon the game with Bismillah so that it kills it, then eat of it. And if you send your dog after the game and another dog joins it in seizing the prey, do not eat of it, unless you find it alive and slaughter it.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Qasim ibn Sulayman said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "A hunting dog has escaped, and — while its owner has not released it — it has caught some prey; when the owner of the dog reached the prey, the dog had killed it. May he eat of it?" He said: "No. If it hunts and he has said Bismillah, it is lawful, then he may eat of it; and if the dog hunts and he has not mentioned the name of Allah, he must not eat of it. And this is the meaning of Allah's saying: ما عَلَّمْتُمْ مِنَ الْجَوارِحِ مُکَلِّبِینَ [What you have taught of the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jamil narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked: "Is the prey which the dog has caught, and which the hunter leaves until it dies, lawful?" He said: "Yes, eat it, for Allah says: فَکُلُواْ مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ [So eat of that which they catch for you]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sama'a ibn Mihran said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about that which a trained hunting dog [catches and] holds back. And that [question of mine was about this] statement of Allah the Exalted: وَ ما عَلَّمْتُمْ مِنَ الْجَوارِحِ مُکَلِّبِینَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَکُمُ اللهُ فَکُلُوا مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ وَ اذْکُرُوا اسْمَ اللهِ عَلَیْهِ [And what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt — you teach them of what Allah has taught you — so eat of that which they catch for you and mention the name of Allah over it]. Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'There is no problem in eating the game that the dog has caught and has not eaten from, but if the dog has eaten from it before you reach it, it is not lawful.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), regarding game that the dog has caught and the hunter has found alive but which then dies after a while in the place where the dog caught it, said: 'Eat it. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: فَکُلُوا مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ [So eat of that which they catch for you]. But if the hunter finds it alive and delays in slaughtering it, or takes it to his house and it dies, or the dog that caught it is not trained, then eating this game is not permitted.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Bakr al-Hadrami said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the game of falcons, hawks, cheetahs and dogs. He said: 'Do not eat anything unless you slaughter it yourself before it dies, except for the game of dogs.' I said: 'What if it kills it?' He said: 'Eat, for Allah the Exalted has said: وَمَا عَلَّمْتُم مِّنَ الْجَوَارِحِ مُکَلِّبِینَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَکُمُ اللهُ فَکُلُواْ مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُمْ [And what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt — you teach them of what Allah has taught you — so eat of that which they catch for you].' Then he said: 'All predators catch the game for themselves, except trained dogs, which catch the game for their masters. And when you send the hunting dog after game, mention the name of Allah over it, for this makes the game lawful.'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Rifa'a narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: 'The cheetah is among those which Allah refers to in His saying: مُکَلِّبِینَ [trained to hunt].'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Rifa'a said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about a dog that kills [its game]. He said: 'Eat.' I said: 'It has eaten part of it [the game].' He said: 'When it eats from it, it has not [hunted and] held it for you; rather it has caught it for itself.'

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): al-Jawarih, which is mentioned in the words of Allah وَ ما عَلَّمْتُمْ مِنَ الْجَوارِحِ مُکَلِّبِینَ [and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt], is anything that is trained for hunting and learns it, whether it be a four-legged animal or a bird; the cheetah and the falcon are among the hunting beasts.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): یَسْئَلُونَکَ ما ذا أُحِلَّ لَهُمْ قُلْ أُحِلَّ لَکُمُ الطَّیِّباتُ وَ ما عَلَّمْتُمْ مِنَ الْجَوارِحِ مُکَلِّبینَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَکُمُ اللَّه [They ask you as to what is allowed to them. Say: The good things are allowed to you, and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt — you teach them of what Allah has taught you]; what is meant is only the hunting of trained dogs, which Allah has made lawful when you reach the prey and the dog has killed it; فَکُلُوا مِمَّا أَمْسَکْنَ عَلَیْکُم [so eat of that which they catch for you].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): What the hunting beasts have killed and you have mentioned the name of Allah over it, eat of their catch; and what the untrained dogs have killed before you reach it [and slaughter it], do not eat of it.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hakam ibn Hukaym al-Sayrafi said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "What do you say about a dog that hunts prey and kills it?" He said: "There is no harm in eating it." I said: "They (the Sunnis) say: when the dog kills it and eats from it, it has caught it for itself [and hunted for itself]; so do not eat it." He said: "Eat. Do they not agree with you that its killing is its slaughter?" I said: "Yes." He said: "What do they say about a sheep that a man has slaughtered? Has he performed tadhkiyah [lawful slaughter] on it?" I said: "Yes." He said: "[If] a wild beast came after the man had lawfully slaughtered it and ate some of it, is the rest to be eaten?" I said: "Yes." He said: "When they answer you in this way, say to them: 'How is it that you say when this [dog] has lawfully slaughtered it and eaten from it, you do not eat, but when this [man] has lawfully slaughtered it and [the dog] has eaten from it, you eat?'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Some people released their trained dogs for hunting and said bismillah, and when the dogs went, an unfamiliar dog whose owner they did not know entered among them, and all the dogs participated in the hunt, [what is the ruling on their catch?]" He said: "Do not eat of it; for you do not know whether a trained dog caught it or not."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hariz narrated: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the dog of the Zoroastrians, when a Muslim uses it for hunting, mentions the name of Allah, and sends it after the prey. He said: "Yes, it is a hunting dog. If he mentions the name of Allah over it, there is no objection."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Ubayda narrates: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about a man who releases a trained hunting dog and, when he releases it, mentions the name of Allah. He said: "He may eat from what the dog has caught for him, even if it seizes it and strangles it; but if an untrained dog is with it, he must not eat from the prey." I said: "What about the falcon, the eagle and the hawk?" He said: "If you reach it in time to slaughter it, eat from it; and if you do not reach it in time to slaughter it, do not eat from it." I said: "Then the cheetah is not in the same position as the dog?" He said: "No, there is no hunting animal except the dog."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The cheetah is among the beasts of prey, and Kurdish dogs, when trained, are like the Saluqi dogs.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Eat whatever the dogs catch for the hunter, even if only a third of it remains.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that concerning the words of Allah the Exalted: وَ اذْکُرُوا اسْمَ اللهِ عَلَیْهِ [And mention the name of Allah over it], he said: "What is meant is mentioning the name of Allah at the time of nahr (slaughter by stabbing) and dhabh (slaughter by cutting the throat). The minimum of that is that one says: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ [In the name of Allah]; and it is recommended that when slaughtering the hady (Hajj sacrifice) and the other sacrifices, and when performing nahr on those animals slaughtered in that manner, he says: وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِیَ لِلَّذِی فَطَرَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَ الْأَرْضَ حَنِیفاً مُسْلِماً وَ مَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِکِینَ [I have turned my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth, being upright, a Muslim, and I am not of the polytheists] (Al-An'am/79). إِنَّ صَلَاتِی وَ نُسُکِی وَ مَحْیَایَ وَ مَمَاتِی لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِینَ* لَا شَرِیکَ لَهُ وَ بِذَلِکَ أُمِرْتُ وَ أَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِینَ [My prayer and all my acts of worship, and my life and my death, are all for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He has no partner, and with this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims] (Al-An'am/162). اللَّهُمَّ مِنْکَ وَ لَکَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ [O Allah, from You and for You. In the name of Allah]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): If the hunter releases the dog and forgets to mention the name of Allah, it is like the case of a butcher who forgets to mention the name of Allah when slaughtering a sheep.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): اذْکُرُوا اسْمَ اللهِ عَلَیْهِ [and mention the name of Allah over it]; that is, before releasing [the hunting animals], mention the name of Allah.