A Passerby May Eat Fruit from a Garden

Hazrat Abu Ja'far narrates that whenever the Prophet ﷺ passed by a garden, he would instruct Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to break the edges of its walls so that anyone eating fruit could enter.

Hazrat Rafi’ bin Amr Ghifari says that I was a small boy and I used to throw stones at the trees of the Ansar to bring down fruit. It was mentioned to the Prophet ﷺ that a boy throws stones at our trees. Then I was brought to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he said to me, “O boy! Why do you throw stones at the trees?” I said, “I want to eat dates.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Do not throw stones at the trees; eat what falls down.” Then he passed his hand over my head and said, “O Allah, fill his stomach.”

A man from the tribe of Muzainah asked the Prophet ﷺ about the ruling on eating fruits that are still on the clusters. He replied that whoever eats them on the spot and does not fill his bag, then there is no harm in it.

Hazrat Sinan bin Salamah narrates that I was picking unripe dates with some boys when suddenly Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came there. The boys ran away and I remained standing there. I said, "O Commander of the Faithful! I am picking up those dates which have fallen due to the wind." He said, "Show me." I showed him, and he permitted me to go. I said, "The boys whom you just saw will snatch these dates from me, so please come with me." Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) accompanied me to my house.

Hazrat Alaa bin Musayyib says that I asked Hazrat Hammad about the dates that have fallen from the trees, so he replied that the Muhajireen did not consider it objectionable to eat them.

Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when you pass by a garden, you may eat the fruit of the garden, but you may not take it away with you.

Hazrat Abu Wa'il narrates that when we went on a military expedition and found fruit, we did not see any harm in eating them.

Hazrat Sufyan bin Husain says that I asked Hazrat Hasan and Hazrat Ibn Sirin whether it is permissible to eat from the date trees when we pass by them. Both of them allowed it and said that if you do not take it along with you and do not spoil it, then there is no harm.

Hazrat Abu Saeed says that when you pass by a garden, call out to its owner; if he responds, then ask him and eat, and if there is no response, then eat but do not cause any damage.

Hazrat Abu Zainab narrates that I was in an army with Hazrat Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him), Hazrat Abu Barzah (may Allah be pleased with him), and Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him), and we used to eat fruits.

Hazrat Zar says that I used to travel with Ibrahim; he used to eat fruits.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever passes by a date orchard may eat from it, but he may not take anything with him.

Hazrat Abu Ja'far says that there is no harm in eating the fruit of the dhimmis.

Hazrat Ibn Sirin narrates that I asked Hazrat Ubaidah, "If a traveler passes by a fruit orchard, can he eat from it?" He replied, "He can eat, but he should not cause any damage."

It is also narrated from Muhammad in the same way.

Hazrat Jundub Bajli says that we used to perform jihad with the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), whatever they did, we also did. We used to eat fruit and hire slaves for the journey, who would take us from one village to another, but we did not share their homes with them.

Hazrat Shu’bah says that I asked Hazrat Hammad whether a traveler can eat the fruits of a garden? He replied that if the nobles oppress people, then in my opinion it is better that he does not eat. And I asked Hazrat Hakam, so he said that he may eat.

21533 - And I asked al-Hakam, and he said: Eat.

A man from Banu Namir says that once during a time of famine, I entered an orchard and plucked a cluster (of dates). Meanwhile, the owner of the orchard arrived and he beat me and snatched away my sheet. We went to the service of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. He said, "When he was hungry, why did you not feed him? And when he did not know, why did you not inform him?" Then he had my cloth returned to me.