Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever kills a sparrow, or a bird even smaller than it, without right, Allah, the Lord of Might, will question him about killing it." It was asked: O Messenger of Allah! What is its right? He said: "That you slaughter it and eat it, and do not cut off its head and throw it away."
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade al-masburah (an animal tied up and made a target until it dies).
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18128
Hisham bin Zayd says: I went with Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) to al-Hakam bin Ayyub. He saw some boys, or young men, who had set up a hen and were shooting at it. Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) "forbade tying up animals (as targets)."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18129
Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade "killing any animal while it is tied up."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18130
Yahya bin Sa'id (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) sent armies towards Syria. He mentioned the hadith about his instructions, at the end of which is: "A goat or a camel is to be slaughtered only for food."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18131
Abu Imran al-Jawni says that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Yazid bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) towards Syria. He mentioned the hadith, at the end of which is: "Slaughter camels and cows only for food."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18132
It was said to Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him): The Romans take those of our horses that have become exhausted, hasten to use them, and fight on them; shall we hamstring those of our horses that become exhausted? He said: No. They are not able to diminish you in anything; tomorrow they will be your slaves or your dhimmis (protected subjects).
Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It has reached us from Abu Umamah al-Bahili (may Allah be pleased with him) that he advised his son: "Do not hamstring any living body." And from Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) that he forbade hamstringing a riding animal when it stops (from exhaustion). And from Qabisah that his horse stopped (from exhaustion) under him in the land of the Romans, so he left it and forbade hamstringing it. Someone who heard Hisham bin al-Ghaz informed us, narrating from Makhul, that he asked him about it and he forbade him, and said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "forbade mutilation."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18133
Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) says: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "May Allah curse whoever mutilates animals."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18134
Abu Ruhm al-Sama'i (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever hamstrings an animal, a quarter of his reward is lost. Whoever burns palm trees, a quarter of his reward is lost too. Whoever cheats his partner, a quarter of his reward is lost too. And whoever disobeys his imam, his entire reward is lost."
There is weakness in this chain, and the first (report) suffices.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18135
Yahya bin Abbad bin Abdullah bin al-Zubayr narrates from his father, who said: My (foster) father, who had me nursed, was a man of Banu Murrah bin Awf. He said: By Allah, it is as though I am looking at Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) on the day of the battle of Mu'tah, when he leapt down from his reddish (shaqra') horse and hamstrung it, then advanced and fought until he was martyred.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18136
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: If someone were to say that Ja'far bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) hamstrung his horse at the time of battle, (I would say): I neither recall it, nor is it well known among the people of knowledge.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18137
Abu Dawud al-Sijistani says: This hadith is not strong; a prohibition of this has been narrated from many of the Companions.
The Shaykh says: The hadith masters are wary of what Ibn Ishaq alone narrates. And if this is authentic, then perhaps the prohibition had not reached Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him).
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب السير / 18138