Eating Clay

2. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Khalid from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Isa from Talhah ibn Zayd who has said the following: “Abu ’Abd Allah عليه السلام, has said, ’Eating clay is of the sources of hypocrisy.”’

3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad ibn Mahbub from Ibrahim ibn Mehzam from Talhah ibn Zayd who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah عليه السلام, has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘One who continues eating clay has a share in his own murder.’”

4. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Hassan ibn Ali from Hisham ibn Salim who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah عليه السلام, has said that Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, created Adam from clay and has made it unlawful for his offspring to eat clay.’”

5. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from ibn Faddal from ibn al-Qaddah who has said the following: “About the case of a man who ate clay ’Amir al-Mu’minin عليه السلام, prohibited and said, ‘Do not eat clay; if you eat clay and die, you have helped to murder yourself.’”

6. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn al-Hakam from Ysma‘il ibn Muhammad from his grandfather Ziyad ibn abu Ziyad who has said the following: “Abu Ja‘far عليه السلام, has said, ‘Wishing and longing is an act of Satan. Eating clay is of the greater part of the hunting devices of Satan. It causes illness in the body and accelerates pain. If one because of eating clay loses his power that he had before eating clay and fails to work as he did before eating clay he will be made to suffer proportionate to the amount of power that he had lost because of eating clay.’”

7. Ahmad ibn Muhammad has narrated from Mu’ammar ibn Khallad who has said the following: “I once asked abu al-Hassan عليه السلام, about what people narrate as regards eating clay and that it is undesirable. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is clay and chunks of dirt.’”

8. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from al-Nawfaliy from al-Sakuniy who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah عليه السلام, has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘If one eats clay and dies he has helped to kill himself.’”

9. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from certain persons of our people from Ja‘far ibn Ibrahim al-Hadramiy from Sa‘d ibn Sa‘d who has said the following: “I once asked abu al-Hassan عليه السلام, about clay. He (the Imam) said, ‘ It is unlawful like dead animals, blood, flesh of pigs except the clay from the grave of al-Husayn عليه السلام, in which there is cure for all kinds of illness and security from all kinds of fear.”’