Ibn Hibban

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ukeem (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Our elders from the tribe of Juhaina informed us of this matter, that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote to those people in a letter: "Do not benefit from anything of a dead animal." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) In the narration, the words "our elders from the tribe of Juhaina informed us of this matter" have caused many people to misunderstand that this narration is not connected, whereas we have already explained in our books that sometimes the Companions, even in the presence of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), would hear something from him and then hear the same thing from someone who was of higher rank than that Companion, and would attribute it to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) through that person. So sometimes they would narrate a report in which they themselves were present, and sometimes they would narrate it from the person from whom they heard it. Have you not considered that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) was also present when Sayyiduna Jibreel asked the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) about faith? Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar also heard this narration from Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab, so once he narrated the report in which he himself was present, and another time he narrated it as a report he heard from his father. Similarly, Abdullah bin Ukeem was also present at the time of the Prophet Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) letter, when it was read out before those people in the tribe of Juhaina, and he also heard the elders of the tribe of Juhaina mention this matter, so once he narrated the report in which he was present, and another time he narrated what he had heard. Therefore, there is no break in this narration. The words of the narration transmitted by Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ukeem, "Do not benefit from the skin or sinew of a dead animal," mean that you should not do so before tanning. The evidence for this being correct is the statement of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): "Any skin that is tanned becomes pure."