I heard the Prophet ﷺ giving a sermon in the year of the Conquest, and he said, "People, Allah made Mecca sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth, so it is sacred until the Day of Resurrection. Its trees are not to be cut, its game is not to be disturbed, and its lost property is not to be picked up except by one who will announce it publicly."Abbas said, "Except for idhkhir grass, for it is used in houses and graves."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Except for idhkhir."
سمعت النبي ﷺ يخطب عام الفتح، فقال: يا أيها الناس! إن الله حرم مكة يوم خلق السماوات والأرض، فهي حرام إلى يوم القيامة، لا يعضد شجرها، ولا ينفر صيده، ولا يأخذ لقطتها إلا منشد فقال العباس: إلا الإذخر، فإنه للبيوت والقبور، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: إلا الإذخر.
Ibn Majah (3108) narrated it, as did Bukhari in Tarikh al-Kabir (1/451-452), and Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil Athar (3143), all of them through the route of Yunus bin Bukayr, who said, Muhammad bin Ishaq told us, Abu Aban bin Salih told us, from Hasan bin Muslim bin Yanaq, from Safiya bint Shayba, and then he related it.Its chain is hasan because of Muhammad bin Ishaq, for his hadith is hasan when he states his source explicitly. As for Abu Aban bin Salih, who is the freedman of Quraysh, Ibn Main, Abu Zura, and Abu Hatim all deemed him reliable, and Nasai said, "There is no harm in him," so no attention should be paid to whoever weakened him. That is why Ibn Hajar said in Taqrib, "The leading scholars deemed him reliable, except Ibn Hazm, who declared him unknown, and Ibn Abdul-Barr, who weakened him." Bukhari alluded to this in the Book of Funerals, following the hadith of Ibn Abbas (1349), where he said, "Abu Aban bin Salih said, from Hasan bin Muslim, from Safiya bint Shayba, 'I heard the Prophet ﷺ'," and he mentioned something similar.There is also disagreement over whether Safiya bint Shayba was a companion, but the stronger and correct view is that she was, for she is the one who described the Prophet's ﷺ entry into Makkah, his tawaf, and the story of the key of the Kaaba, as was mentioned earlier in the account of the conquest of Makkah. That is why Mizzi said in his Tuhfa (11/343), "This hadith weakens the claim of anyone who denies that she had a sighting of the Prophet, for its chain is hasan. And Allah knows best."In a similar meaning, it is reported from Abdullah bin Abbad Zarqi that he used to hunt sparrows at a well called Ihab, which belonged to his people. He said, "Ubada bin Samit saw me after I had caught a sparrow, and he took it from me and released it, saying, 'My son, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared sacred everything between its two lava tracts, just as Ibrahim declared Makkah sacred.'" Ahmad (22708) narrated it from Ali bin Abdullah bin Jafar, who said, "Anas bin Iyad Abu Damra told me, Abdul-Rahman bin Harmala told me, from Yaala bin Abdul-Rahman bin Hurmuz, that Abdullah bin Abbad Zarqi informed him," and then he related it.Abdullah bin Abbad Zarqi had no one narrating from him except Yaala bin Abdul-Rahman bin Hurmuz, and I have found no one who vouched for his reliability, so he is unknown, as Ibn Hajar said in Tajil (556). And Yaala bin Abdul-Rahman had no one narrating from him except Abdul-Rahman bin Harmala, and no one deemed him reliable except Ibn Hibban.