And how could it be permissible to abandon the text of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his explicit statement in favor of an analogy of his text in another context! Furthermore, camels differ from sheep due to their weakness and their lack of patience regarding water.

Section: If the game animals are wild, such that if they are left alone they return to the wilderness and their owner is unable to reach them, then it is permissible to pick them up; because leaving them is more destructive to them than to other forms of property. The intent is to preserve them for their owner, not to preserve them for their own sake. If the intent were to preserve them for their own sake, it would not be permissible to pick up money, for a dinar is a dinar wherever it may be.

Section: A cow is like a camel. Ahmad has stated this textually, and it is the opinion of Al-Shafi'i and Abu Ubayd. It is narrated from Malik that a cow is like a sheep. Our argument is the report of Jarir, for he chased away a cow and did not take it; and because it is capable of defending itself against small predators, and it suffices for seven people in sacrifice (udhiyya) and sacrificial offering (hady), so it resembles a camel. The same ruling applies to horses and mules. As for donkeys, our companions placed them in this category, which it is not permissible to pick up, because they have large and massive bodies, so they resemble mules and horses, and because they are beasts of burden, so they resemble mules. However, it is more appropriate to include them with sheep, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) provided a reason for the camel ruling: that it has its hoofs and its water-skin with it, meaning its great patience for lack of water due to the large amount it can hold in its stomach, and its strength to reach it. He also provided the reason for permitting stray sheep: that they are exposed to being seized by a wolf, saying: "It is for you, or for your brother, or for the wolf." Donkeys are equivalent to sheep in their operative cause (illa), as they cannot defend themselves against a wolf, and they differ from camels in their operative cause, as they have no patience for lack of water. For this reason, a proverb is coined regarding their lack of patience for it: "Only a donkey's watering interval remains of its term." To include something with that which is equal to it in the operative cause of the ruling, while differing from it in outward form, is better than including it with that which is close to it in form while differing in the operative cause. As for things other than animals, if they are self-protecting, such as millstones, large timber, or copper pots, then they are like camels in the prohibition of taking them; in fact, they are even more so, because camels are exposed to destruction in general, either by a lion, or by hunger, or by thirst, and other such things, whereas these are the opposite. Furthermore, these objects are unlikely to be lost to their owner or move from their place, unlike animals. Therefore, if taking an animal is prohibited, these are even more so.