and found it dead, and his dog was with it, it is lawful. This is the statement of al-Hasan and Qatada. It is reported from Ahmad that if it was absent for a day, there is no harm, but if it was absent for a night, he should not eat it. From Malik, there are two narrations similarly. From Ahmad, there is that which indicates that if it was absent for a long period, it is not permitted, and if it was short, it is permitted; because it was said to him: "If it was absent for a day?" He said: "A day is a lot." The basis for that is the statement of Ibn Abbas: "If you shoot and kill instantly, then eat, and if you shoot and find your arrow in it on your day or your night, then eat, and if it spent a night away from you, do not eat, for you do not know what happened to it [after that]." Ata and al-Thawri disliked eating what had been absent. A similar view is reported from Ahmad. Al-Shafi'i has two opinions regarding it, because Ibn Abbas said: "Eat what you have struck down (asmayta), and what you have allowed to escape (anmayta), do not eat." Al-Hakam said: "Isma' is the instant killing (iq'as), meaning it dies immediately. Inma' is that it disappears from you, meaning it does not die immediately." The poet said: "It does not grow (tanmi) its arrow-wound... why is it not counted among its kin?" Abu Hanifa said: "It is permitted if he did not cease searching for it, but if he became preoccupied away from it then found it, it is not permitted." Our position is what was narrated by 'Adi ibn Hatim from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he said: "If you shoot game and find it after a day or two, and there is no mark on it except the mark of your arrow, then eat. But if you find it drowned in water, do not eat." Agreed upon. From 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, that a man came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, give me a ruling regarding my arrow." He said: "Whatever your arrow returns to you, eat it." He said: "Even if it disappeared from me?" He said: "Even if it disappeared from you, provided you do not find in it a mark other than your arrow, or..."
(3) In (A) and (B): "fa-aqsa't" (so you killed instantly). (4) In (B): "ba'daka" (after you). (5) Extracted by al-Bayhaqi, in: Chapter on releasing [a beast] at game that disappears from you..., from the Book of Hunting and Slaughtering. Al-Sunan al-Kubra 9/241. (6) He is Imru' al-Qays, and the verse is in his Diwan, 125. (7) Extracted by al-Bukhari, in: Chapter on hunting if it disappears from him for two or three days, from the Book of Slaughtering and Hunting. Sahih al-Bukhari 7/113. And Muslim, in: Chapter on hunting with trained dogs, from the Book of Hunting and Slaughtering. Sahih Muslim 3/1531. It was also extracted by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on hunting, from the Book of Hunting. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/98. And al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on what was said regarding one who shoots game and finds it dead in water, from the Chapters of Hunting. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 6/257. And al-Nasa'i, in: Chapter on one who shoots game and it falls into water, from the Book of Hunting and Slaughtering. Al-Mujtaba 7/169, 170.
