O Messenger of Allah, what if one of us finds game, but has no knife; should he slaughter it with a flint or a piece of a stick? He said: "Cause the blood to flow with whatever you wish, and mention the name of Allah." Al-marwah is flint. It is also narrated from a man from the Banu Harithah tribe that he was grazing a she-camel (6) and death overtook it, so he did not find anything with which to slaughter it. He took a stake and pierced it with it in its labbah (base of the neck) until its blood was poured out, and then he came to (7) the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who ordered him to eat it. Both reports (8) were narrated by Abu Dawud (9). This (10) is the opinion of al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, and Abu Thawr. Similar is the view of Malik and 'Amr ibn Dinar. Abu Hanifah also held this view, except regarding the tooth and the nail; he said: If they are attached, slaughter with them is not permissible, but if they are detached, it is permissible. Our evidence is the general nature of the hadith of Rafi', and because what is not permitted for slaughter while attached is not permitted while detached, like that which is not sharp. As for bone, other than the tooth, the implication of the general statement of Ahmad, al-Shafi'i, and Abu Thawr is the permissibility of slaughtering with it. This is the view of Malik, 'Amr ibn Dinar, and the people of reason (As-hab al-Ra'y). Ibn Jurayj said: It may be slaughtered with the bone of a donkey, but not with the bone of a monkey; because you may pray upon a donkey and drink from it in your bowl. Another report from Ahmad states: One may not slaughter with a bone or a nail. Al-Nakha'i said: One may not slaughter with a bone or a horn. His reasoning is that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Whatever causes blood to flow and the name of Allah is mentioned over it, eat it, unless it is a tooth or a nail. I shall tell you about that: the tooth is a bone, and the nail is the blade of the Abyssinians." He thus provided the reason that it is a bone, so every bone contains the cause (illah). The first view (12) is more correct, if Allah the Almighty wills, because the bone is included in the general meaning of the permitting expression, and then the tooth and nail were specifically exempted; therefore, other bones remain included (13) in that with which slaughter is permitted, and the literal expression takes precedence over the reasoning. And for this reason, he provided the reason for the nail being [forbidden] as it being the blade of the Abyssinians, yet it is not forbidden to slaughter with a knife even if it is one of their blades. Furthermore, bones are covered by the other general hadiths, and the intended purpose is achieved by them, so they are like other tools.