A Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, "I live in a land full of lizards, and they make up most of my family's food."The Prophet ﷺ did not answer him.We said to the man, "Ask him again."So he repeated his question, but the Prophet ﷺ still did not answer. This happened three times. Then on the third occasion, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called out to him and said, "Bedouin, Allah cursed, or was angry with, a tribe from the Children of Israil and transformed them into creatures that crawl upon the earth. I do not know, perhaps this lizard is one of them. So I do not eat it, nor do I forbid it."
أن أعرابيا أتى رسول الله ﷺ فقال: إني في غائط مضبة، وإنه عامة طعام أهلي، قال: فلم يجبه. فقلنا: عاوده، فعاوده، فلم يجبه ثلاثا، ثم ناداه رسول الله ﷺ في الثالثة، فقال: يا أعرأبي إن الله لعن أو غضب على سبط من بني إسرائيل، فمسخهم دواب يدبون في الأرض، فلا أدري لعل هذا منها، فلست أكلها، ولا أنهى عنها.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Hunting and Slaughtered Animals (1951:51), from Muhammad bin Hatim, who said, Bahz told us, Abu Aqeel Dawraqi told us, Abu Nadra told us, from Abu Saeed, and he mentioned it.As for what was narrated from Khuzayma bin Juz, who said, I said, "O Messenger of Allah, I have come to ask you about things, about the creeping creatures of the earth. What do you say about the lizard?" He said, "I do not eat it, nor do I forbid it." I said, "Then I will eat what you have not forbidden. Why, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "A nation among the nations went missing, and I saw something in its form that made me uneasy." I said, "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the rabbit?" He said, "I do not eat it, nor do I forbid it." I said, "Then I will eat what you have not forbidden. Why, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "I was told that it menstruates." I said, "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the hyena?" He said, "Who would eat the hyena?" I said, "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the fox?" He said, "Who would eat the fox?" I said, "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the wolf?" He said, "Does anyone with any good in him eat the wolf?"This is daif. Tirmidhi (1792) and Ibn Majah (3235) and Tabarani in Al-Kabir (4/119) all narrated it through various routes from Abdul-Kareem bin Abu Mukhariq, from Habban bin Juz, from his brother Khuzayma bin Juz, who mentioned it. The wording given here is that of Tabarani, while others narrated only part of it.Its chain is extremely daif because of Abdul-Kareem bin Abu Mukhariq, for he is daif by the agreement of the scholars, and more than one scholar has abandoned him. Tirmidhi said, "This hadith's chain is not strong. We do not know it except through the hadith of Ismail bin Muslim, from Abdul-Kareem Abu Umaya."I say, rather Ismail was corroborated in this, for Muhammad bin Ishaq corroborated him as found in Ibn Majah, though he is a mudallis and he narrated it using ambiguous transmission wording (an'ana).Ibn Abdul-Barr said in Al-Tamhid (1/161), "A hadith like this cannot be relied upon due to the weakness of its chain, and it should not be given attention, for it revolves around Abdul-Kareem bin Abu Mukhariq, and no one else narrates it. He is daif, and his hadith is abandoned." End of quote.