The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) disliked them. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said: 'There is no disagreement among the scholars of the Muslims today regarding their prohibition.' It has been reported from Ibn 'Abbas and 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that they used to speak according to the literal meaning of the saying of the Exalted: 'Say, I do not find within that which was revealed to me a prohibition for one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine' [Qur'an 6:145]. Ibn 'Abbas recited it and said: 'Whatever is outside of this is lawful.' 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was asked about the mouse and she said: 'It is not forbidden,' and she recited this verse. 'Ikrimah and Abu Wa'il saw no harm in eating donkeys. It has been narrated from Ghalib ibn Abjar that he said: 'A year of drought afflicted us, so I said: O Messenger of Allah, a year of drought has afflicted us, and I have nothing in my wealth to feed my family except some fat donkeys, and you have forbidden the meat of domestic donkeys.' He replied: 'Feed your family from your fat donkeys, for I only forbade them because of the jawwal (creatures) of the village.'
Our evidence is what Jabir narrated, that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade the meat of domestic donkeys on the day of Khaybar and permitted the meat of horses. This is agreed upon. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said: 'The prohibition of domestic donkeys has been narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) by 'Ali, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, Jabir, al-Bara', 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa, Anas, and Zahir al-Aslami, with authentic and sound chains of transmission, and the hadith of Ghalib ibn Abjar is not to be relied upon alongside that which contradicts it. It is possible that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) permitted it for them during their famine and explained the cause of their absolute prohibition, which is because they eat excrement.' 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa said: 'The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade them entirely because they eat excrement.' Agreed upon.
Section: Mules are forbidden according to everyone who prohibits domestic donkeys, because they are sired by them, and that which is sired by something takes its ruling regarding prohibition. Likewise, if an offspring is born from between a domestic animal and a wild one, it is forbidden by giving precedence to the prohibition. The sam' (a hybrid canine) produced between a wolf and a hyena is forbidden. Qatadah said: 'The mule is nothing but something from the donkey.' From Jabir, he said: 'We slaughtered horses, mules, and donkeys on the day of Khaybar, then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade us from mules and donkeys, but he did not forbid us from horses.'
Section: The milk of donkeys is forbidden according to the view of the majority of them. 'Ata', Tawus, and al-Zuhri granted permission for it. The first [view] is more correct, because the ruling on milk is the ruling on meat.
(1) Surah al-An'am: 145. What was recounted about 'A'ishah was mentioned by al-Suyuti, who also mentioned those who recorded it. See: al-Durr al-Manthur 3/51. (2) Recorded by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter on the meat of domestic donkeys, from the Book of Sacrifices and Hunting. Sahih al-Bukhari 7/124. And by 'Abd al-Razzaq, in: The Chapter on the domestic donkey, from the Book of Rituals. Al-Musannaf 4/525, 526. (3) In the manuscripts: "al-hurr" (the free one), which is a distortion. (4) In the manuscripts: "hawali", which is an error. The jawwal (with a shadda on the lam) is the plural of al-jallalah (animals that eat filth/excrement). (5) Recorded by Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter on eating the meat of domestic donkeys, from the Book of Foods. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/321. (6) Recorded by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter on the Battle of Khaybar, from the Book of Military Expeditions; and in: The Chapter on horse meat; and the Chapter on the meat of domestic donkeys, from the Book of Sacrifices and Hunting. Sahih al-Bukhari 5/173, 7/123. And by Muslim, in: The Chapter on eating horse meat, from the Book of Hunting and Sacrifices. Sahih Muslim 3/1541. It was also recorded by Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter on eating horse meat; and the Chapter on eating the meat of domestic donkeys, from the Book of Foods. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/316, 320. And by al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter on the permission to eat horse meat, from the Book of Hunting. Al-Mujtaba 7/177. And by al-Darimi, in: The Chapter on eating horse meat, from the Book of Sacrifices. Sunan al-Darimi 2/87.
