What is the ruling on consuming hyena meat, can it be considered as an exception from the hadith in bukhari and muslim since it’s consumption is mentioned in the hadith by ibn abi ammar, the hadith in bukhari and muslim are general while the later is very specific then shouldn’t the later be considered as conclusive?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah
According to Imam Abu Haneefa rh. as well as Imam Malik rh. hyena is impermissible and haram to consumer. Imam Shafi’i rh. and Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal rh. consider it to be permissible in light of the narration that you have mentioned.
The synopsis in regards to Hyena is that those ahadeeth which are stronger in their authenticity however not sareeh (explicit) in its edict indicate to its permissibility.
Whereas, those narration which are explicit in regards to a ruling about it are not as authentic and they mention impermissibility of hyena.
عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عَمَّارٍ، قَالَ قُلْتُ لِجَابِرٍ الضَّبُعُ صَيْدٌ هِيَ قَالَ نَعَمْ . قَالَ قُلْتُ آكُلُهَا قَالَ نَعَمْ . قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُ أَقَالَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ نَعَمْ
Tirmidhi #1791
On authority of Ibn Abi Ammar rh. “I asked Jabir: ‘Is hyena kind of game animal?’ He said: ‘Yes.’
“He said: “I said: ‘Should I eat it?’ He said: ‘Yes.’
“He said: ‘I said: ‘Did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say that ?’ He said: ‘Yes.'”
The above narration (which is same from Bukhari Shareef) has been brought in Tirmidhi as well. The points to highlight in this narration are:
a. The hadeeth is not Sareeh (explicit) about hyena. The arabic word “الضَّبُع ” can refer to what we in english call hyena as well as “badger”. A badger digs in soil, stays underground and is omnivore. So many linguist are not certain if this hadeeth is about hyena or not.
b. But the hadeeth is explicit in “الضَّبُع” being a Sayd (a hunt).
c. Being a hunt does not equate halal for consumption since not every hunt is for food purposes.
d. Statement of Sayiduna Jabir “نَعَمْ ” is in response to the question , “أَقَالَهُ” wherein the zameer ہ in it could refer to eating of “الضَّبُع” or hunt of “الضَّبُع”. *This is the ambiguity in text* and cannot to relieved from the garamatical rule of looking at the nearest marja’.
e. Similarly, the answer of Sayiduna Jabir rd. “نَعَمْ ” to “آكُلُهَا ” is his own Ijtihad, otherwise a sareeh hadeeth for it would have been presented.
The two elder Imams, i.e. Imam Abu Haneefa rh and Imam Malik rh. have adopted this stance and explanation, while the younger Imam (Shafi’i rh and Ahmed rh) have adopted the marja’ to go to eating and not hunting.
The second narration about hyena is mentioned by Imam Tirmidhi rh. under the same chapter.
عَنْ حِبَّانَ بْنِ جَزْءٍ، عَنْ أَخِيهِ، خُزَيْمَةَ بْنِ جَزْءٍ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ أَكْلِ الضَّبُعِ فَقَالَ ” أَوَيَأْكُلُ الضَّبُعَ أَحَدٌ ” . وَسَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَكْلِ الذِّئْبِ فَقَالَ ” أَوَيَأْكُلُ الذِّئْبَ أَحَدٌ فِيهِ خَيْرٌ ”
Tirmidhi #1792
Khuzaima bin Jaz’ said, “I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about eating “الضَّبُع”.
He said: ‘Does anyone eat “الضَّبُع”‘
So I asked him about eating wolf’
He said: ‘Does anyone who has any good in him eat wolf?'”
The hadeeth is not of a strong chain of narration, however it is a explicit in its ruling of impermissibility of consumption of the two ضبع and ذئب .
Moreover, question of ضبع in direct correlation to ذئب is also a qareena (indication) that the question is about hyena. This is because they are in similar category. Even in the discussion of the hunt during Ihram, they are in the same category.
Imam Abu Haneefa rh. and Imam Malik rh. adopted this narration in relation to hyena because although the chain are not strong, the other generic hadeeth corresponds to this impermissibility.
عن الزهري: «نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عن كل ذي ناب من السباع»
Nabi ﷺ has prohibited the consumption of every predatory animal with fangs.
We also realize that Sayiduna Jabir rd’s Ijtihad in relation to the issue of hyena could be borne from the ayah of Surah Ma’idah, which was about hunting game while in Ihram. Allah had stated that hunt of land-game is haram upon you as long as you are in ihram. (5:96)
Based on this, since Nabi ﷺ called hyena a hunt, it ought to be permissible to hunt out of ihram, and thus halal. So the fiqhi ijtihad is that since it is a hunt-game, it is halal as well. So the Ijtihad applied a ruling from hunt in ihraam to a hunt for halal food out of ihraam.
This goes contrary to Ijtihad of Sayiduna Ali rd. wherein he has mentioned that it is Makruh to eat Monitor Lizard and Hyena. (Muwatta Imam Muhammad). Sayiduna Ali rd’s ijtihad highlights that while it is to be considered a hunt, and thus a muhrim hunting it will have to pay damm (penalty) but this does not have anything to do with it being halal for consumption.
Finally, a general fiqhi principle is that when someone permissible and impermissible come in contrast, then we give preference to impermissible err towards the side of caution . This is more the case when there is no Saheeh narration that also has Sarahat in it, and is countered by a Da’eef Sareeh Hadeeth which indicates towards impermissibility along with it being in line with general fiqhi defaults from Qur’an and Saheeh ahadeeth.
In conclusion in matter of fiqh, we follow Imam Abu Haneefa rh’s qawl that hyena is impermissible to consume. (Hidaya, Bada’i)
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi