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In my answer to How often should we eat meat?, I quote two ahadith which I'm unsure about their reliability. The first is

Hazrat Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad, the fourth Khalifa as per Sunni belief, has been quoted in Sharh Nahjul Balagha, as saying: “Do not make your stomach a graveyard of animals”.
dailypioneer.com

A variant of this hadith is found on what seems to be a Hare Krishna website:

Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad orders Hazrat Ali: “Don’t make your stomach a grave yard of innocent birds and animals.” From that day Hazrat Ali had faithfully followed this instruction.
harekrsna.de

I didn't find a reliable source for this hadith, nor was I able to determine its level of authenticity.

Question: What is the authenticity of this hadith?

(I asked about the other hadith here: What is the authenticity of the hadith "if you eat meat for 40 days, those qualities will come within you"?)

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  • Please add "(pbuh)" or "(saw)" after our Prophet Mohammed (saw) .
    – user24306
    Apr 4, 2018 at 9:14
  • The relevant meta posts are: 1, 2, 3. This topic is not relevant to the question.
    – Rebecca J. Stones
    Apr 4, 2018 at 9:19
  • Still I'm not convinced. I do think that you need to do it just so you show your gratitude among the Prophet.
    – user24306
    Apr 4, 2018 at 9:27
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    I so far only found it quoted as a statement of 'Ali in a commentary of nahj al-Balagha. Which would mean it is hard to qualify the authenticity.
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Apr 4, 2018 at 9:28
  • @AnonymousI you are free to add it in your mind, but this discussion IMO is closed on islam SE.
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Apr 4, 2018 at 9:29

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The hadith that you quoted is not in any Sunni book that I have come across. Some have attributed this saying to Abū al-'Alā' al-Ma'arri but without citing references. An unattributed saying (potentially words of wisdom preserved through tradition over time) was documented by Muhammad al-Munawi in Fayd al-Qadīr:

وكبعض الحكماء حيث قال: يا أبناء الحكمة لا تجعلوا بطونكم قبورا للحيوان

— NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care.

And as some wise men say: "O sons of wisdom, do not turn your stomachs into graveyards for animals."

— Fayd al-Qadīr Sharh al-Jami' as-Saghīr 2/52

In Fasl al-Khitāb 2/526, Mohammad Nasr ad-Dīn Mohammad 'Uwaida attributed it to 'Ali ibn Abi Tālib, with almost identical wording, but again without citing a chain of narration or any other references.

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