47 - Chapter: Concerning a Mouse Falling into Butter (Samn)

3841 - Musaddad narrated to us, Sufyan narrated to us, al-Zuhri narrated to us, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah, from Ibn Abbas, from Maymunah, that a mouse fell into some butter (samn), and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was informed of it. He said: "Throw away what is around it and eat (the rest)."(1)

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Abu Thawr used to say: Everything that dwells in water is permissible. Whatever among it requires ritual slaughter is not lawful except by slaughter, and whatever among it does not require slaughter—such as fish—may be taken alive or dead. Abu Hanifah disapproved of sea creatures except fish.

Sufyan al-Thawri said: I hope there is no harm in crab.

Ibn Wahb said: I asked al-Layth ibn Sa'd about eating the water pig, the water dog, and all water creatures. He said: As for the water human, it is not eaten under any circumstances. As for the pig—if people call it a pig, it is not eaten, for Allah has forbidden the pig. As for dogs, there is no harm in them on land or at sea.

I say: They did not differ that the mar-mahi (a type of fish) is permissible to eat, even though it resembles snakes and is also called a snake. This indicates the invalidity of considering the meaning of names and resemblances regarding sea creatures. Rather, they are all fish, even if their shapes and forms differ. Allah, Glorified be He, has said: {Lawful to you is game from the sea and its food, as provision for you} [al-Ma'idah: 96]. This includes everything hunted from the sea among its creatures; nothing is excluded from it except by evidence. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the water of the sea, and he said: "Its water is purifying, and its dead (creatures) are lawful." He did not exempt anything from it over another. Thus the general ruling necessitates permissibility in all of it, except what evidence excludes. And Allah knows best.

(1) Its chain of transmission is authentic. Sufyan: he is Ibn Uyaynah.
It was also recorded by al-Bukhari (235) and al-Nasa'i (4259) via the route of Malik ibn Anas, and by al-Bukhari (5538), al-Tirmidhi (1902), and al-Nasa'i (4258) via the route of Sufyan ibn Uyaynah, both from al-Zuhri, with it.
It is found in "Musnad Ahmad" (26796) and "Sahih Ibn Hibban" (1392). The wording of Ibn Hibban is like the wording of the narration of Ma'mar that follows. Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah clarified in "Tahdhib al-Sunan" the irregularity (shudhudh) of Ibn Hibban's narration.
See what follows it, and the jurisprudence of the hadith in what comes after it.