Ahmad 7475

Its isnad is sahih. Muslim bin Jundab Hudhali, the judge, is a trustworthy tabii. His trustworthiness was established earlier at 1411, and we add here that Bukhari mentioned him in al-Kabir 4/1/258, and Ibn Abu Hatim in 4/1/182. He also narrates from Abu Hurairah directly, but here he narrated from him through an intermediary.Habib Hudhali is a trustworthy tabii. Bukhari mentioned him in al-Kabir 1/2/325, Ibn Abu Hatim in 1/2/11, and Ibn Hibban in al-Thiqat, p. 161. None of them criticized him. They mentioned that he narrates from Abu Hurairah, and that Muslim bin Jundab narrates from him. The meaning of the hadith is sahih, something similar to it appeared earlier at 7217, narrated by Malik from Zuhri, from Ibn Musayab, from Abu Hurairah.As for this particular route, none of the Six Books narrated it, because Habib Hudhali was not mentioned in al-Tahdhib, but was only included in al-Tajil. The wording of the hadith is disordered in the copies of al-Musnad that I have before me.The text we have adopted is the wording of (S), and it is the correct one, sound in meaning. In (H) and (M) it reads, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ its trees are not forbidden except by beating or cutting," which is a confusion introduced by the copyists that contradicts the intended meaning.The copy (K) contains even worse confusion, difficult to read and establish, so we refrained from referring to it.Al-Arwa, with fatha on the hamza, Ibn Athir said, is a plural of abundance for al-urwiyyah (with damma on the hamza and doubled ya). It is also pluralized as arawi, with fatha on the hamza. It refers to mountain goats, and it was also said to mean mountain sheep.Yukhbat, Ibn Athir said, the prohibition is against beating its trees. Al-khabt means striking the trees with a stick so that their leaves fall off.Yaudu, with the plain ain and the dotted dad, Ibn Athir said, the prohibition is against cutting its trees, meaning severing them.