The Excellence of the Meat of Sheep Over Goats

1. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from certain persons of his people, I think Muhammad ibn ’Isma‘il who has said the following: “Certain ones among us mentioned two kinds of meat before abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.). He said, ‘No other meat is better than the meat of goat.’ Abu al-Hassan (a.s.), looked at him and said, ‘Had Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, created any chunk of meat finer than that of sheep He would have presented that instead (of the ram) as ransom for ’Isma‘il (a.s.).”’

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from Sa‘d ibn Sa‘d who has said the following: “I once said to abu al-Hassan (a.s.), ‘My family does not like the meat of sheep.’ He (the Imam) then asked, ‘Why do they not like it?’ I replied, ‘They say that it accelerates bitterness, headache and pains.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘O Sa‘d.’ I replied, ‘Yes, my Imam.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Had Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, considered anything more revered than sheep He would have presented it instead (of the ram) as ransom for Ismail (a.s.).’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

3. Certain persons of our people have narrated from Ja‘far ibn Ibrahim al-Hadramiy from Sa‘d ibn Sa‘d who has said the following: “I once said to abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.), ‘My family eats the meat of goats but not that of sheep.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘Why they do so?’ I replied, ‘They say that it excites bitterness (stomach acid).’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Had Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, known anything better than sheep He would have presented it as ransom for Ishaq.’” This is how it has come in Hadith.

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.