Reports on cutting down a lote tree

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Hubshi (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever cuts down a lote tree, Allah will plunge his head into the Fire."

Nasr bin Ali narrated it like the narration of Abu Dawud, except that here the chain differs: "from Ibn Jubayr bin Mut'im, from Abdullah bin Hubshi (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever cuts down a lote tree, Allah will plunge his head into the Fire."
Abu Ali al-Hafiz said: This is how we wrote it from the hadith of Mas'adah; he was not corroborated in it, and it is a mistake. Ibn Jurayj only narrated it from Amr bin Dinar from Urwah bin al-Zubayr as his own saying, and Abu Usamah (also) narrated it (this way) from Ibn Jurayj. So the narration of Nasr bin Ali from Abu Usamah with this (other chain) became ma'lul (defective), though it is possible that Abu Usamah narrated it both ways.

Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates a marfu' hadith concerning (the one who cuts) the lote tree: "Punishment will be brought upon him," or he said: "His head will be thrown into the Fire." The narrator from Thaqif said: The sons of Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) told me that Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) cut down a lote tree that was in a garden, and a door for the garden was made from it.

Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Those who cut down lote trees, Allah will throw them headlong into the Fire."
This Abu Uthman is Muhammad bin Sharik al-Makki, and what is preserved from him is this (narration) as mursal.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Those who cut down lote trees will be thrown headlong into the Fire."
Abu Ali said: I do not think that he (al-Qasim bin Abi Shaybah) preserved it accurately from Waki', and (the scholars) have criticised him. What is preserved is the narration of Abu Ahmad al-Zubayri, and those who corroborated him, from Muhammad bin Sharik, from Amr bin Dinar, from Amr bin Aws, from Urwah, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as mursal.

Amr bin Aws (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I saw an old man of Banu Thaqif whose fields had been spoiled by a lote tree. I said: Why do you not cut it down? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade cutting (it) except for the sake of crops. He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever cuts down a lote tree, except for the sake of crops, punishment will be poured upon him." So I dislike cutting it, whether for the crops or otherwise.
This is another chain for Amr bin Aws, besides his narration from Urwah, if Ibrahim bin Yazid preserved it accurately.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Announce among the people, from Allah and not from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that Allah will curse the one who cuts down a lote tree."

One narration has the words: "except for the sake of crops."
Abu Ali said: This is how this shaykh told it to us, but (the mention of) Ibn Jurayj in its chain is an error; Ibrahim bin al-Mundhir narrated it from Hisham bin Sulayman from Ibrahim bin Yazid without mentioning Ibn Jurayj in its chain, and that is correct. Abu Ali al-Hafiz said: The hadith of Ibrahim bin Yazid is mudtarib (inconsistent), and Ibrahim is da'if (weak).

It is narrated from Abu Ja'far (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) in the illness in which he died: "O Ali, go and announce, from Allah and not from the Messenger, that Allah curses the one who cuts down lote trees."
All of these (narrations) are munqati' (broken) and weak, except the hadith of Ibn Jurayj, for I do not know whether Sa'id heard from Abdullah bin Hubshi or not; it is possible that he heard it, and Allah knows best. It has also been narrated with another, connected chain, if it is preserved.

Bahz bin Hakim narrates from his father, and he from (his) grandfather (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who cuts down lote trees, Allah will plunge his head into the Fire."

Bahz bin Hakim narrates from his father, and he from his grandfather (may Allah be pleased with him), that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is from Allah, not from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): the curse of Allah is upon the one who uproots lote trees."

(a) Hassan bin Ibrahim said: I asked Hisham bin Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) about cutting down lote trees while he was leaning against the house of Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him). He said: Do you see these doors and door-panels? They are from the lote trees of Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him). Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) cut them from his land and said: There is no harm in it. And Hisham said: O Iraqi, you have brought me an innovation! Hassan said: I said: The innovation is rather from your side; I heard (people) in Makkah say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) "cursed the one who cuts down lote trees." Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) said: That is, whoever cuts down, frivolously and wrongfully and without any right of his own in it, a lote tree in open country under which travellers and animals take shade.
(b) Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Abu Thawr (may Allah have mercy on him) asked Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) about cutting down lote trees, and he said: There is no harm in it. It has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Wash him with water and lote leaves."
(c) I said: The hadith narrated about the one who cuts down lote trees is to be interpreted according to the explanation of Imam Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him), if its chain is sound; for it contains the discrepancies that we have mentioned earlier.
(d) We have narrated that Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) used to cut it down from his land, although he is one of the narrators of the prohibition; so it seems that the prohibition is specific, as Abu Dawud (may Allah have mercy on him) said, and Allah knows best. Isma'il bin Yahya al-Muzani (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about this, and he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about someone who set about cutting down the lote trees of a people, or of an orphan, or of someone whose trees Allah has forbidden him to cut, and wronged him by cutting them, so he deserved what he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. So it is to be understood thus: the listener heard the answer but did not hear the question. It is like the hadith narrated from Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Usury (riba) is only in deferment." That narrator too did not hear the question but heard the answer, while he (peace and blessings be upon him) (also) said: "Do not sell gold for gold except like for like, hand to hand."
(e) Al-Muzani argued with what Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on them both) argued, namely that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted washing the deceased with lote leaves; had it been unlawful, benefiting from it would not have been permissible. He said: The leaves of the lote tree are like its branches, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in forbidding the cutting of the trees of the Haram, treated the leaves and the rest alike. Since I have not seen anyone prevented from (taking) lote leaves, this shows that cutting down lote trees is permissible.