The sale of a cheetah, a falcon, and similar animals is not permissible, for they are impure; thus, their sale is not allowed, just like a dog. Our argument is that it is an animal whose possession is permitted, and it contains a permitted benefit, without any threat of punishment for keeping it, so its sale is permitted (3) just like a mule. What they both argued is invalidated by the mule and the donkey, for there is no disagreement regarding the permissibility of their sale, and their status is the same as beasts of prey regarding purity, impurity, the permissibility of possession, and the utilization of them. As for the dog, the Sharia has threatened against possessing it and has forbidden it, except in cases of necessity, so its permissibility is established by way of necessity, unlike others. Furthermore, the original principle is permissibility, evidenced by the saying of Allah the Almighty: {And Allah has permitted trade} (4). Based on the meaning we have mentioned, what the Sharia has excluded is removed from this, for reasons not present here, so it remains upon the original principle of permissibility. As for the cat, al-Khiraqi said: Its sale is permitted. This is also the view of Ibn Abbas, al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin, al-Hakam, Hammad, al-Thawri, Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, and the People of Opinion. It is reported from Ahmad that he disliked its price. This is also narrated from Abu Hurayrah, Tawus, Mujahid, and Jabir ibn Zayd. Abu Bakr chose this view, due to what Muslim (5) narrated from Jabir, that he was asked about the price of a cat, and he said: The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade that. In a wording narrated by Abu Dawud from Jabir, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade the price of a cat. Al-Tirmidhi said: This is a Hasan (sound) Hadith, and there is disturbance (idtirab) in its chain of narration. Our response is what we mentioned regarding beasts of prey used for hunting; the Hadith is interpreted as referring to those that are not owned, or those from among them that possess no benefit, based on what we have stated. Furthermore, because trade was legislated as a means for reaching the fulfillment of a need and for obtaining a permitted benefit, so that each individual may reach the utilization of what is in the hands of his companion of that which it is permitted to utilize, it ought to be legislated for it, so that one may reach...