Is game hunted by a falcon (*bāzi*) permissible to eat if the falcon consumed from it?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Hunting and Slaughter
Primary text
It is permissible to eat game hunted by a falcon even if the falcon ate from it. This is the position held by Ibn Abbas, Al-Nakha'i, Hammad, Al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa and his companions. The basis for this ruling is that falcons require teaching through consumption, and it is impossible to teach them to refrain from eating. Furthermore, the consensus of the Companions supports this, as reported from Ibn Abbas: if a dog eats from the game, do not eat it, but if a falcon eats, then eat, because one can control a dog but not a falcon. The reported Hadith suggesting prohibition (*'anwan*) is considered unsound because its narrator, Mujālid, is weak.
Supporting text
Al-Shafi'i explicitly ruled that a falcon is like a dog regarding the prohibition of eating from game it consumed, based on a narration from Mujālid via Al-Sha'bi from Uday ibn Hatim concerning the Prophet (peace be upon him): 'If the dog or the falcon eats, then do not eat.' This view also rests on the analogy that the bird of prey ate what it hunted immediately after killing it, resembling beasts of prey.