42/26. Chapter:
Sunan an-Nasai 4320 — Mastigure and Caution
Mastigures
Mastigure Hadith: Caution Without a Direct Ban
Sunan an-Nasai : 4320
Sunan an-NasaiHadith Number 4320
أَخْبَرَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ الْبَلْخِيُّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ، سَلاَّمُ بْنُ سُلَيْمٍ عَنْ حُصَيْنٍ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ وَهْبٍ، عَنْ ثَابِتِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ الأَنْصَارِيِّ، قَالَ كُنَّا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي سَفَرٍ فَنَزَلْنَا مَنْزِلاً فَأَصَابَ النَّاسُ ضِبَابًا فَأَخَذْتُ ضَبًّا فَشَوَيْتُهُ ثُمَّ أَتَيْتُ بِهِ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَخَذَ عُودًا يَعُدُّ بِهِ أَصَابِعَهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ " إِنَّ أُمَّةً مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مُسِخَتْ دَوَابَّ فِي الأَرْضِ وَإِنِّي لاَ أَدْرِي أَىُّ الدَّوَابِّ هِيَ " . قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ أَكَلُوا مِنْهَا - قَالَ - فَمَا أَمَرَ بِأَكْلِهَا وَلاَ نَهَى .
Thabit bin Yazid Al-Ansari Narrated from:
We were with the Prophet on a journey. We stopped to camp and the people caught some mastigures. I took a mastigure and grilled it, and brought it to the Prophet. He took a palm stalk, and started counting his fingers with it, and said: 'A nation from among the children of Israel was turned into beasts of the Earth, and I do not know what kind of animals they were, I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, the people have eaten some of them.' He did not tell them to eat it, and he did not forbid them from eating it.
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 4320In-book reference : Book 42, Hadith 58English translation : Vol. 5, Book 42, Hadith 4325
Summary of Sunan an-Nasai Hadith 4320
This mastigure hadith describes a journey in which some people caught and ate mastigures. Thabit grilled one and brought it to the Prophet. The Prophet mentioned that a nation from the Children of Israel had been transformed into creatures of the earth, but he did not know which animals they had become. When told that the people had already eaten the mastigures, he gave no command to eat them and no prohibition against eating them. The main lesson is careful speech when certainty is not present. The report does not state a clear ban on mastigure meat, and it also does not show the Prophet encouraging this particular meal. It records his caution and the exact limits of what he said.
What we learn from this hadith
- Speak carefully when the facts are not fully known.
- Do not turn personal caution into a stated prohibition without clear words.
- Preserve the difference between what was said, what was not ordered, and what was not forbidden.
