Is game permissible (halal) to eat if a hunter shot at a target believing it was game, but it turned out to be a human, animal, or stone, and killed it?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Hunting and Slaughter
Primary text
If one perceives a black object or hears a sound, suspects it is a human, beast, or stone, and shoots at it, killing game instead, the game is not permissible (halal) to eat. This is the view held by Malik and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. The justification is that the hunter did not intend to hunt; just as if one threw at a target and hit game, or as in the case of a trained hunting animal (jarh) according to Al-Shafi'i, the intention to hunt was absent, thus invalidating the permissibility.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa permitted it, arguing that the intent to hunt was present, and the hunter mentioned the name of God (Tasmiah), equating it to a known hunting scenario. Al-Shafi'i permitted it if the weapon used was an arrow, but not if a trained hunting animal was used. Furthermore, if the hunter suspected the target was a dog or a pig, it is not permissible, contrary to Muhammad ibn al-Hasan's view that it is permissible because killing those animals is allowed.