On
a recent shopping trip, I happened to pass by a pet shop, where a big monkey in
a small cage outside the entrance broke my heart. I gathered up the guts to
enter the shop, only to leave in tears deeply saddened by what I had seen. Poor,
helpless animals imprisoned in tiny cages without even enough space to turn
around. Their sad, pleading eyes haunted me as I fought the urge to set them
free. I wondered if the pet shop owner ever thought about what it would be like
to be paralyzed, as he has incarcerated birds in little cages. And for what
beneficial purpose? Weren’t birds meant to fly? Maybe only a fellow animal
lover would really understand what I felt that day, yet the importance of
kindness to animals is something every Muslim should understand as a part of his
worldview. It is such a serious matter that in Islam, it is understood that one
could gain Heaven or Hell due to one’s treatment of animals.
Mistreating
animals is considered a sin in Islam. A Muslim is responsible for the care of
animals so much so that an ill-treated animal will testify against the one who
abused it on the Day of Judgment. Islam forbids branding animals and killing
them in vain, such as for sport. The Prophet Muhammad forbade people to capture
birds, burn anthills, and whip animals. Even in slaughtering animals for food,
Islam requires that the slaughtering be done according to Islamic procedure,
which is humane and aims to cause the animals as little suffering as possible.
As humans, we have a responsibility towards every living creature.
As
I left the shop, tears streamed down my face and I wondered, “Where are the
people of the
,
or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, than any other Companion. He was known for
being very sympathetic and loving towards animals so much so that although his
name was `Abdur-Rahman, he was known as Abu Hurayrah, meaning “father of the
kitten.” He was called so because of a small cat that he used to feed and care
for and carry with him everywhere he went.
Cats
in Islam
The
Prophet Muhammad taught mercy to all of God’s creation. There are many reports
of his love for cats resulting in their historical acceptance among Muslims.
Cats were very common among the people during the time of the Prophet, and he
said, “They (cats) are not impure and they intermingle with you.”1
The cat is such a clean animal that according to authentic narrations one may
make ablution for Prayer with the same water that a cat drank from. Yet, it is
known that some people nowadays have opposed the traditions of the Prophet by
taking up the evil practices of torturing and poisoning cats. In Islam,
punishment for such acts is severe. Both Al-Bukhari and Muslim reported a hadith
regarding a woman who locked up a cat, refusing to feed it and not releasing it
so that it could feed itself. The Prophet Muhammad said that her punishment on
the Day of Judgment will be torture and Hell.
Dogs
in Islam
Many
Muslims have misunderstood Islam’s teachings regarding dogs, and this
misunderstanding has led to the mistreatment of these animals. The Prophet said,
“Purifying a container that a dog has licked (in order for human’s to use
it) is done by washing it seven times, the first washing being with dirt.”2
However, according to some scholars, a dog’s fur is considered pure3.
Nonetheless, Muslims are discouraged from keeping dogs inside their homes, as
the Prophet has been reported as saying that angels do not enter into a house
that has a dog4.
However,
just because one does not keep a dog inside the home and doesn’t drink after
it, that does not give one the right to neglect it, mistreat it, or kill it. The
usefulness of this creature of God is indisputable. No other animal can compete
with it in its loyalty to its caregiver, its abilities as a guard, and its
talent for hunting. In fact, the Qur’an narrates in Surat Al-Kahf, or “The
Cave,” the story of some pious youths who took refuge in a cave from the
persecution and violence of the unbelievers. That these righteous people had a
dog with them, and the fact that Allah mentions the dog and counts the dog among
them, indicates that dogs are permitted to live among people. [And you would
have thought them awake, whereas they were asleep. And We turned them on their
right and on their left sides, and their dog stretching forth his two forelegs
at the entrance (of the cave as a guard)] (Al-Kahf 18:18).
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So
dogs may be used for guards as well as for hunting, as the Qur’an also states:
[They ask you about what is lawful for them (as food); Say: Lawful unto you are
(all) things good and pure: and those beasts and birds of prey which you have
trained as hounds, training and teaching them (to catch) in a manner as directed
to you by Allah; so eat what they catch for you, but pronounce the name of Allah
over it and fear Allah, for Allah is swift in reckoning] (Al-Ma’idah 5:4).
In
two separate hadiths narrated by Abu Hurayrah (the cat-loving Companion), the
Prophet told his Companions of the virtue of saving the life of a dog by giving
it water and quenching its thirst: one referred to was a man who was blessed by
Allah for giving water to a thirsty dog. The other was a prostitute, who filled
her shoe with water and gave it to a dog that was lolling its tongue in thirst.
For this deed she was granted the ultimate reward: eternal Paradise.
Islam
asks people to reflect upon this and be aware of each person’s duty toward
God’s creatures, which He has put on earth for our use, not for our abuse.
When the Prophet was asked if God rewarded acts of charity to the animals, he
replied, “Yes, there is a reward for acts of charity to every beast alive.”
Hediyah
Al-Amin is a Muslim-American teacher of Islamic Studies and Islamic Culture at
the Qatar Center for the Presentation of Islam.
