Benefits of the Hadith (Its water is pure, and its dead are lawful)

The Shaykh : This hadith has several benefits, among which is the eagerness of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) to receive knowledge, which is evident in their knowing the occasion of the hadith, namely their question to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Companions were undoubtedly the most eager people for knowledge. Therefore, whenever you encounter matters that the Companions did not ask about, and which arise in the mind, know that asking about them is an innovation, as the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said regarding those who ask about the modality of the attributes of Allah, stating that this question is an innovation because the Companions did not ask about it.
Another benefit of this hadith is that seawater is pure. Seawater is pure without exception, except for what is restricted in the hadith, meaning unless it is changed by impurity. Otherwise, it is pure. Even if something harmful, such as oil or gasoline, floats on its surface, it remains pure, because such things do not change its nature.
Another benefit of this hadith is the excellence of the Messenger’s (peace and blessings be upon him) teaching and his response, where he resorts to comprehensive and general matters. He was granted (peace and blessings be upon him) the essence of speech and his speech was condensed for him. The indication of this is that he said: .
Another benefit of this hadith is the permissibility of adding to the answer beyond the question when necessity calls for it. The indication is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) added to the questioners’ inquiry by explaining the ruling on the dead of the sea, saying, "Its dead are lawful." Why? Because if wudu in seawater was difficult for them, it is apparent that the dead of the sea would be even more difficult for them if they found a dead fish floating on the water. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed them of the ruling on the dead of the sea, even though they had not asked about it.
Another benefit of this hadith is that all fish and sea creatures are lawful due to the generality of his saying: . "Dead" here is a singular noun in the genitive case, which makes it comprehensive. Therefore, everything in the sea, whether fish or sea creatures, is lawful. Is it pure or impure?
The student: Pure.

The Shaykh : How did we know that it is pure?
The student: Permissible.

The Shaykh : Because it is lawful, for we have a useful rule: every lawful thing is pure. Every lawful thing is pure, but not every pure thing is lawful. And every impure thing is forbidden, but not every forbidden thing is impure. Correct? Yes. Every lawful thing is pure; this is one point. Not every pure thing is lawful, such as harmful things like poison, smoke, and hashish, and the like. What are these? They are pure, yet they are forbidden, though there is disagreement regarding hashish and intoxicants. However, the stronger opinion is that they are pure. Now, the second point: every impure thing is forbidden, correct?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : What is the evidence? Allah the Exalted attributed the prohibition to impurity, which indicates that every impure thing is forbidden. This is from the perspective of textual evidence. The theoretical evidence is: if we are obligated to remove the effect of this thing from our outer appearance, how can we introduce it into our inner selves? And not every forbidden thing is impure, correct?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is so, like smoke and poison and the like; they are forbidden but not impure. So, we derive from this hadith that all the dead of the sea are lawful, and all its sea creatures and fish are lawful, whether alive or dead. If someone asks, "What do you say about sea creatures of the predatory kind? Are they lawful or not?" The answer is: they are lawful. There are fish and sea creatures in the sea that attack and eat humans, just as a predator attacks on land and a human attacks. Are these forbidden? The answer is: No. Even if they are in the form of a living creature, or in the form of a human, or in the form of a dog, they are lawful due to the generality of the evidence. If someone asks, "Is there anything in the Qur'an indicating the lawfulness of the dead of the sea?" We say: Yes, it is the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said in his interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: that it is what takes a dead [creature]. Now, if the water is changed by a dead fish, does it remain pure?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, it remains pure because it was changed by something pure and lawful, so it does not harm. Then he said: "It was narrated by the four". Who are the four?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Now, "and Ibn Abi Shaybah, and the wording is his, and Ibn Khuzaymah and al-Tirmidhi authenticated it, and Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad narrated it". The three imams narrated the hadith. And his saying: "the wording is his", know that the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) who transmit from the primary sources, such as the author of al-Bulugh and others, may choose one wording even if it is from a narrator of lower rank in terms of authenticity, because it is more comprehensive and broader. They choose this wording even if it was narrated by someone who is more rigorous in seeking the authentic, but it may be in a concise wording or a context that is not good, or the like. The important thing is that they may choose the wording of the one who extracted it, even if it is of lower rank than the other, due to the good context of the wording.
And his saying: "authenticated it" means he ruled on its authenticity. Know that the authentic hadith, according to the scholars, is one in which five conditions are met: First, that the narrator is upright; second, that he has complete precision; third, that the chain of narration is connected; fourth, that it is free from anomaly; and fifth, that it is free from a critical defect. Five conditions. Can you recite them to me?
The student: What is narrated by an upright person with complete precision.

The Shaykh : No, say it as I said it.
The student: Upright, complete precision, connected chain, free from anomaly, and free from defect.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is the authentic. If it is deficient in complete precision, meaning the conditions are complete except for complete precision, and the narrators or one of them has slightness in precision, it transitions from authenticity to goodness and becomes good. If uprightness is deficient, it is weak. If precision is completely deficient, it is weak. If the connection of the chain is deficient, it is weak. If it is deficient in being free from anomaly, it is weak. If it is deficient in being free from a critical defect, it is weak. Be careful: even if the hadith is narrated in a book considered among the authentic books, for example, what Muslim narrated regarding the description of the eclipse prayer, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed with three bowings in every unit, this, even though it is in Sahih Muslim, is anomalous due to al-Bukhari’s deviation from it and the agreement of al-Bukhari and Muslim that there are two bowings in every unit. The historians have agreed that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not pray the eclipse prayer except once. Accordingly, anything other than the two bowings in every unit is ruled to be anomalous.
Also, what Muslim narrated in the hadith of the Night Journey, where he narrated it from Shurayk and he advanced and delayed in it, is considered contrary to what the two imams al-Bukhari and Muslim agreed upon, and is considered anomalous. And, according to the stronger opinion, , because his saying: did not appear in al-Bukhari, but only in one of the narrations of Muslim, and accordingly it is anomalous. In any case, anomaly, even if it is extracted in an authentic book, is possible for every person; not everyone is protected from every error. It must also be free from a critical defect, which is one that undermines the root of the hadith or the chain of the hadith. As for non-critical defects, they do not harm. Among non-critical defects is the disagreement of the narrators regarding the price of Jabir’s (may Allah be pleased with him) camel, and their disagreement regarding the price of the necklace in the hadith of Fadalah ibn 'Ubayd, whether it is twelve dinars or less or more; this does not harm because it is a non-critical defect. The important thing: if asked, "What is the authentic according to the terminology of hadith scholars?" Say: What is narrated by an upright person with complete precision, with a connected chain, and free from anomaly and critical defect. If complete precision is deficient and the remaining conditions are present, it is good. If the remaining conditions are deficient, it is weak.