Hunting is Permissible For One Who is not in the State of Ihram

Question :

Previously, I bought a baby deer from the province of Jizan and brought it to Makkah to the place where I live. Now it has grown and we have suffered problems due to it. Is it permissible for me to transfer it from Makkah to At- Ta'if or Jeddah and sell it or take it out of the forbidden area and slaughter it and benefit from its meat?

Answer:

If the situation is as you have described it, then you may slaughter the deer in Makkah or sell it there. Or, you may go out with it to At-Ta'if or Jeddah or any other place outside the forbidden area, according to the correct saying from among the sayings of the scholars on the subject.

Evidence has only been reported regarding the prohibition of hunting for the one who is in a state of Ihram even if he is outside the Sacred Precincts (of Makkah) and the prohibi- tion of hunting for the one who is in the Sacred Precincts even if he is not in a state of Ihram.

What you have asked about does not fall into these two. categories, nor is it included in their meaning. So what you have mentioned remains under the basic principle, which is the permissibility of keeping and slaughtering, because you became its owner outside the Sacred Precincts while you were not in a state of Ihram. Allah, Most High says:

"O you who believe! Allah will certainly make a trial of you with something in (the matter of) the game that is well within the reach of your hands and your lances, that Allah may test who fears Him unseen. Then whoever transgresses thereafter, for him there is a painful torment. O you who believe! Kill not the game while you are in a state of Ihram [for Hajj or "Umrah (pilgrimage)), and whosoever of you kills it intentionally, the penalty is an offering, brought to the Ka'bah, of an eatable animal (i.e. sheep, goat, cow) equivalent to the one he killed, as adjudged by two just men among you; or, for expiation, he should feed Masäkin (poor persons), or its equivalent in Saum (fasting), that he may taste the heaviness (punishment) of his deed. Allah has forgiven what is past, but whosoever commits it again, Allah will take retribution from him. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Able of Retribution. Lawful to you is (the pursuit of) water game and its use for food for the benefit of yourselves and those who travel, but forbidden is (the pursuit of) land game as long as you are in a state of Ihram (for Hajj or Umrah). And fear Allah to Whom you shall be gathered back."

It has been confirmed from the Prophet ﷺ that he said:
"Verily, Allah has declared Makkah sacred, and it was not made permissible for anyone before me, nor will it be made permissible for anyone after me. It was only made permissible for me for one hour of the day; its plants are not to be cut, nor are its trees to be chopped down, nor its game to be hunted.

It was also confirmed from the Prophet that he said:

"Verily, Ibrahim declared Makkah sacred and I declared Al- Madinah sacred, that which lies between its two lava plains; its plants should not be cut, nor should its game be hunted.

Based upon this, all that the one who is not in a state of Ihram hunts outside the Sacred Precincts, and which he brings into the Sacred Precincts, or, the one in a state of Ihram takes from there by purchasing, or as a gift, or an inheritance, is permissible for the one who is in a state of Ihram as well as the one who is within the Sacred Precincts to take possession of it, to slaughter it and to eat it outside the Sacred Precincts or within them.

If one was in a state of Ihram and had game in his hands, or in his house, or in a cage in his possession and he had owned it before that, then it is permissible for him, as it was before. He may slaughter it, or eat it, or sell it. It is only forbidden for the one who is in a state of Ihram and one who is in the Sacred Precincts, to begin hunting it and to take what was caught for him (by someone else at his request). If he does so, he does not own it, and if he slaughters it, it is dead meat, according to what has been confirmed in the authentic Hadith in which it is stated that the Prophet saw a bird known as An-Nughair in the hand of Abu 'Umair Al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him, and he said:
"O Abu "Umair! What has An-Nughair done?"

He did not order him to free it, and that was in the Sacred Precincts of Al-Madinah.

Hisham bin 'Urwah said: "And the Commander of the Faithful, 'Abdullah bin Az-Zubair was in Makkah for nine years and he saw them in their cages and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to come with them, Al-Qimari and Al-Ya'aqib.

They did not forbid that. And Ibn Hazm reported on the authority of Mujahid that there is no objection to bringing live game to the Sacred Precincts and then slaughtering it. And he narrated also that Salih bin Kaysan said: "I saw game being sold alive in Makkah during the Governorship of Ibn Az-Zubair."

And may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet, Muhammad and upon his family and Companions.