Al-Khuttaf the Bird of Black Color, a kind of Crow

“As we were sitting with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), a man passed by with a slaughtered khuttaf in his hand. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), quickly got up, took it from his hand and threw it away saying, ’Has your scholar or your faqih commanded you to kill it? My father narrated to me from my grandfather that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, prohibited killing of six things of which one is al- khuttaf. Its roaming in the sky is in regret for what is done to the family of Muhammad (SAW), and its reading Tasbih (Allah is free of all defects) is its reciting, “All praise belongs to Allah, Cherisher of the worlds.” Have you not noticed that it says, “Waladdallin (and who are not straying)?” (the last word in Chapter 1 of the Quran)’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, recommended to be good to al-Sininat (the crows). They among the birds are the ones that feel comfortable with people and he (the Messenger of Allah) then said, ‘Do you know what al-Sininah says when it passes by or sings? It says, “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, All praise belongs to Allah, Cherisher of the worlds . . .” until it reads ’Umm al-Kitab (the first chapter of al-Quran) and in the end it sings, “Waladdallin”. ’ He (the Messenger of Allah) prolonged his voice saying, ‘waladdallin ’ .”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about killing crows and disquieting them in al-Haram (the sacred area). He (the Imam) said, ‘You must not kill them. I was with Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.), and he saw me troubling them. He (the Imam) said to me, ‘Do not kill them or trouble them; they do not trouble anything.’”