Does Eating Camel Meat Break Wuḍūʾ

The disagreement

• The majority of the jurists agreed after the first era on the non-obligation of ablution from eating anything touched by fire; because it is authentically established as the practice of the four Caliphs رضي الله عنهم.
• They disagreed: does ablution due to eating camel meat fall under this rule? This disagreement consists of two opinions.

The opinions

• Ablution is not obligatory for eating camel meat:
• Held by: The Majority of Jurists
• Ablution is obligatory for eating camel meat:
• Held by: Aḥmad

Reason for the disagreement

• Is eating camel meat included in the general rule of leaving ablution for what has been touched by fire, or does it have a specific ruling exclusive to it?

Evidence

First opinion

• The ḥadīth of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh رضي الله عنهما: He said:

(كان آخر الأمرین من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ترك الوضوء مما مسته النار

"The last of the two matters from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was leaving ablution for what has been touched by fire."

[Reported by: Abū Dāwūd, Ahmad, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāī, Ibn Mājah, Ibn Hibbān; and more than one scholar authenticated it. This ḥadīth is an abrogator (nasikh) of ablution for everything touched by fire, and camel meat is included in this general permission to omit ablution.

Second opinion

• The ḥadīth of Jābir ibn Samurah ﷺ: "That a man asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Should I perform ablution after eating mutton? He said: 'If you wish, perform ablution, and if you wish, do not perform ablution.' He asked: Should I perform ablution after eating camel meat? He said:

«نَعَمْ، فَتَوَضَّأْ مِنْ لُحُومِ الإِبِلِ»

'Yes, perform ablution from camel meat.'" ([Reported by: Muslim). This ḥadīth is an explicit text on the point of dispute, and it does not fall under the general rule of leaving ablution for what has been touched by fire.

References

Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid (1/79), Badā’iʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ (1/257), Ḥāshiyat Ibn ʿĀbidīn (1/96), al-Maʿūnah (1/49), al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr (1/123), Nihāyat al-Maṭlab (1/136), al-Bayān (1/194), al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr (2/53), al-Mughnī (1/250), Sharḥ Ibn Zāḥim (1/246).