Muʿjam al-Aḥādīth al-Muʿtabara, Some Rulings which are Time-Bound – Ḥadīth #3

The same ruling has also been narrated in Sunni sources which again demonstrates the convergence between our two sects in terms of the prophetic legacy.

They quote Ali عليه السلام as saying:

  حدثني حرملة بن يحيى أخبرنا ابن وهب حدثني يونس عن ابن شهاب حدثني أبو عبيد مولى ابن أزهر أنه شهد العيد مع عمر بن الخطاب قال ثم صليت مع علي بن أبي طالب قال فصلى لنا قبل الخطبة ثم خطب الناس فقال إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قد نهاكم أن تأكلوا لحوم نسككم فوق ثلاث ليال فلا تأكلوا

“The messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم prohibited you from eating the meat of your sacrifices beyond three nights, so do not eat it [after that]” [Sahih Bukhari & Muslim]

Some of their scholars rule based on this, they claim that the Khutba of Ali was after the death of the prophet and thus this command did not change.

However, the famous and stronger opinion is that the command was only a temporary one and was later abrogated, although there remains a question whether it was abrogated forever or whether the ruling returns if the situation changes.

The position that it was abrogated is based on the narration of Burayda quoted below (among others):

حدثنا أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة ومحمد بن المثنى قالا حدثنا محمد بن فضيل قال أبو بكر عن أبي سنان وقال ابن المثنى عن ضرار بن مرة عن محارب عن ابن بريدة عن أبيه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم … نهيتكم عن لحوم الأضاحي فوق ثلاث فأمسكوا ما بدا لكم …

“The messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: … I had prohibited you from eating the meat of the sacrificed animals (on the Id festival) beyond three days but now store it for as long as you want …” [Sahih Muslim]

It is because of this apparent contradiction that al-Shafi’i said:

وقال الشافعي : من قال بالنهي عن الادخار بعد ثلاث لم يسمع الرخصة . ومن قال بالرخصة مطلقا لم يسمع النهي عن الادخار . ومن قال بالنهي والرخصة سمعهما جميعا فعمل بمقتضاهما والله أعلم

“Whoever prohibits storing it beyond three days did not hear the permission [to do so – from the prophet], and whoever rules about its absolute permissibility did not hear the prohibition of storing [from the prophet], but the one who has both prohibited it [under certain circumstances] and allowed it [otherwise] heard both statements [from the prophet] and acted upon its collective import. And Allah knows better” [al-Jami li Ahkam al-Qur’an of al-Qurtubi]

And this reveals an important point, recall that in another Hadith the Imam had said that the Sahaba did not lie about the prophet, but the main cause of their divergences was the phenomenon of abrogation. There can be no better case in point than this one.

Perhaps the best narrations to shed light on the matter and resolve it come from Aisha as follows:

حدثنا خلاد بن يحيى حدثنا سفيان عن عبد الرحمن بن عابس عن أبيه قال قلت لعائشة أنهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن تؤكل لحوم الأضاحي فوق ثلاث قالت ما فعله إلا في عام جاع الناس فيه فأراد أن يطعم الغني الفقير وإن كنا لنرفع الكراع فنأكله بعد خمس عشرة قيل ما اضطركم إليه فضحكت قالت ما شبع آل محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم من خبز بر مأدوم ثلاثة أيام حتى لحق بالله

Abis said to Aisha: the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prohibited the eating of the sacrificial meat [of the Id festival] beyond three? She said: he did not do that except the year in which the people went hungry, because he wished that the rich feed the poor, we used to keep the sheep’s trotters (of the sacrificed animal) and eat it after fifteen days, it was said: what made you do that (for it is a lowly part)? so she laughed and said: the family of Muhammad never satiated themselves from the bread of wheat with meat for three consecutive days ever until he returned to meet Allah [Sahih Bukhari]

حدثنا إسحق بن إبراهيم الحنظلي أخبرنا روح حدثنا مالك عن عبد الله بن أبي بكر عن عبد الله بن واقد قال نهى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن أكل لحوم الضحايا بعد ثلاث قال عبد الله بن أبي بكر فذكرت ذلك لعمرة فقالت صدق سمعت عائشة تقول دف أهل أبيات من أهل البادية حضرة الأضحى زمن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ادخروا ثلاثا ثم تصدقوا بما بقي فلما كان بعد ذلك قالوا يا رسول الله إن الناس يتخذون الأسقية من ضحاياهم ويجملون منها الودك فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وما ذاك قالوا نهيت أن تؤكل لحوم الضحايا بعد ثلاث فقال إنما نهيتكم من أجل الدافة التي دفت فكلوا وادخروا وتصدقوا

Abdallah b. Waqid: the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم prohibited eating the sacrificial meat after three [days], Abdallah b. Abi Bakr said: so I mentioned that to Umra – she said: he is right, I heard Aisha saying: some families the desert-dwellers [bedouins] came to Madina close to Id al-Adhha in the time of the messenger of Allah, so the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: store it only for three days then give as charity whatever remains, but when it (the Id) occurred again (the next year) they said: O messenger of Allah – the people are used to making water-bags out of their sacrificed animals (curing the skins) and also melting fat out of them! So the messenger of Allah said: what about it? they said: you prohibited eating (and making use) of the sacrificed animals after three [days]? He said: I prohibited you then because of the bedouins who had come – so (as for now) you can eat of it and store it (as long as you want) and give it out as charity.

دافة “Dafa” – the poor people who have migrated temporarily to the urban centers to find provisions to sustain life because of the suffering in the desert as a result of drought.

The explanation given by Aisha is the same one given by our Imams.

أحمد بن محمد بن يحيى العطار، عن أبيه ، عن محمد بن الحسين بن أبي الخطاب، عن محمد بن إسماعيل بن بزيع، عن يونس، عن جميل بن دراج قال : سألت أبا عبدالله عليه السلام عن حبس لحوم الاضاحي فوق ثلاثة أيام بمنى ، قال : لا بأس بذلك اليوم ، إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله إنما نهى عن ذلك أولا لان الناس كانوا يومئذ مجهودين، فأما اليوم فلا بأس

Ahmad b. Muhammad  b. Yahya al-Attar from his father from Muhammad b. al-Husayn b. Abi al-Khattab from Muhammad b. Ismail b. Baz`i from Yunus from Jamil b. Darraj who said: I asked Aba Abdillah عليه السلام about storing the meat of the sacrificed animals (in the Id festival) in Mina beyond three days, he said: there is no problem in doing that today, the messenger of Allah  صلى الله عليه وآله had only prohibited doing that at first because the people at that time were struggling, as for in our times then there is no impediment [in doing that].

قال الصدوق: وقال أبو عبدالله عليه السلام: كنا ننهي عن إخراج لحوم الاضاحي بعد ثلاثة أيام لقلة اللحم وكثرة الناس، فأما اليوم فقد كثر اللحم وقل الناس، فلا بأس بإخراجه

al-Saduq quotes Abu Abdillah عليه السلام as saying: we were forbidden to take out (continue to use) the sacrificial meat after three days because of the paucity of meat and the abundance of people, as for today then the meat has increased and the people have decreased so there is no problem with taking it out [after three days].

al-Muhsini: Know that the prophet  issued some commands that were temporary and he contradicted it later [with an opposite command] either with a clear explanation from him about the changed circumstance or without. And such instances exist in our narrations and in the narrations of the `Amma, whoever is able to research this and gather all such instances together in one book then he would have done good.

The commands and prohibitions are sometimes issued in the sense of a Fatwa, that is a permanent ruling which is established in the Shar`ia, and sometimes it is issued in the sense of a ruling that is dependent on certain external conditions [on the ground], thus the ruling will lapse with their [the conditions which led to the rulings] lapsing.

And the latter type of rulings, just as it is right that they issue from the prophet and the Awsiya, because of them being administrators of human affairs, similarly it is also appropriate if they are issued on the part of the Mujtahidin.