(They ask thee (O Muhammad) what is made lawful for them…) [5:4].
Abu Bakr al-Harithi informed us> Abu’l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn ‘Uthman> Yahya ibn Abi Za’idah> Musa ibn ‘Ubayda> Aban ibn Salih> al-Qa‘qa’ ibn Hakim> Salma Umm Rafi‘> Abu Rafi‘ who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded me to kill dogs. But people said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is made lawful for us from this community [of dogs] which we are commanded to kill?’ And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (They ask thee (O Muhammad) what is made lawful for them. Say: (all) good things are made lawful for you. And those beasts and birds of prey)”. This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu ‘Abd Allah in his Sahih> Abu Bakr ibn Balawayh> Muhammad ibn Shadhan> Mu‘alla ibn Mansur> Ibn Abi Za’idah.
The commentators of the Qur’an said in explanation of this story: “Said Abu Rafi‘: ‘Gabriel, peace be upon him, went to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, but did not enter in on the Prophet even though he was granted permission to enter. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, came out and said to him: ‘We have given you permission to enter, O Gabriel!’ He said: ‘Yes, you have, O Messenger of Allah, except that we do not enter a house where there is a picture or a dog’. They looked around and found that there was a puppy in one of the rooms’. Abu Rafi‘ said: ‘The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded me to kill every dog in Medina. I proceeded with the execution of the command until I reached al-‘Awali where I found a woman who kept a dog for her protection. Out of compassion for her, I did not kill her dog. I went back to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him of what had happened, and he commanded me to go back and kill it. I went back and killed it. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded the killing of dogs, a group of people went to him and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, What is lawful for us of this community that we have been commanded to kill?’ The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer, and then Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. When this verse was revealed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, allowed keeping dogs which can be benefited from and warned against keeping dogs from which no benefit is derived. He also commanded the killing of rabid dogs, rapacious dogs and dogs that hurt and harm people. Apart from these, all other dogs were exempted from killing’ ”.
Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: “This verse was revealed about ‘Adiyy ibn Hatim and Zayd ibn al-Muhalhil (the same Zayd al-Khayl [Zayd of the horses] whom the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, renamed Zayd al-Khayr [Zayd of goodness]), both of whom were from the tribe of Tayy. These two men went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we are people who hunt using dogs and falcons, and the dogs of the family of Dhurayh and those of the family of Abu Juwayriyah hunt cows, wild asses, deer and lizards, some of which we slaughter before they are killed and some are killed before we get to slaughter them. What is lawful for us in this case since, Allah, exalted is He, has forbidden eating the flesh of dead animals?’ And so this verse was revealed: (They ask thee (O Muhammad) what is made lawful for them. Say: (all) good things are made lawful for you), meaning that which has been slaughtered (And those beasts and birds of prey), meaning the game hunted by trained predatory animals which are here hunting dogs and birds of prey”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou