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Hadith regarding beef

Is there a Hadith where Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said that the meat of a cow contains disease?

Answer

This Hadith has been recorded in numerous Hadith collections, with varied degrees of weakness and slight variation in the wordings.

However, beef is unanimously halal to consume, and has been mentioned in the Holy Quran. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) also slaughtered a cow on behalf of his wives and it is unlikely that he would use an animal whose meat is diseased for an act of ‘ibadah. Furthermore, ‘Allamah Muhammad Anwar Al Kashmiri (rahimahullah) has stated that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) even consumed beef himself on more than one occasion. [see one occasion in Sahih Bukhari, hadith: 3089].

Due to these reasons, some Muhaddithun have rejected the authenticity of the Hadith in question.

Other Muhaddithun have chosen to interpret the Hadith in question and have offered the following explanation:

Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was referring to a specific type of cow in a specific place. Since the climate of the Arabian Peninsula is dry, the beef produced from the cows there is also extremely dry. Consuming this type of beef may lead to sickness.

Some Muhaddithun are of the opinion that this Hadith is referring to excessive consumption of beef, which will lead to sickness.

References for all of the above

Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 294, Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 1211, Al Ajwibatul Mardiyyah, vol. 1 pg. 21-25, Al Maqasidul Hasanah, Hadith: 713 and 854, Faydul Qadir, Hadith: 5558 and Faydul Bari, vol.3 pg.459.

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.

Answered by: Moulana Suhail Motala

Approved by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar

Checked by: Moulana Haroon Abasoomar

This answer was collected from HadithAnswers.com. The answers were either answered or checked by Moulana Haroon Abasoomar (rahimahullah) who was a Shaykhul Hadith in South Africa, or by his son, Moulana Muhammad Abasoomer (hafizahullah), who is a Hadith specialist. 

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