Answered by Shaykh Gibril F Haddad
I read somewhere that the Prophet said he passed people eating raw meat on the miraj, and Jibril said they were the ones who performed zina. Is that based on any hadith, is it to be trusted?
Wa `alaykum as-Salam:
Yes, the Prophet, upon him peace, saw a tablespread in which there were pieces of good meat which no one approached, and another tablespread in which were pieces of rotten meat which stank, surrounded by people who were eating it. He asked: O Jibril, who are these?? He replied: These are those of your Community who abandon what is lawful and proceed to what is unlawful.
Another version says: The Prophet saw a great deal of people gathered around a tablespread in which was set grilled meat of the best kind one had ever seen. Near the table there was some carrion decaying. The people were coming to the carrion to eat from it, and they were leaving the grilled meat untouched. The Prophet asked: Who are they, O Gibril?? He replied: The adulterers (al-zunaat): they make lawful what Allah Most High has made unlawful, and they abandon what Allah has made lawful for them.
This segment is narrated by Ahmad, al-Tabarani, and Abu Nu`aym. The Hafiz of Damascus Dya’ al-Din al-Maqdisi retained it in his book al-Ahadith al-Mukhtara, in which he said he retained only the sound (sahih) narrations.
Cf. Shaykh Muhammad `Alawi al-Maliki, Wa-Huwa bil-Ufuqi al-A`la (p. 278).