Chapter 13
Transactions
Animal Rights
10502: De-clawing a cat so that it won't do any
damage, and neutering/spaying cats
Question:
We keep a cat in the house as a family pet. Our
question is in regards to nueturing/spaying and declawing of
the pet. Is it permissible by Islam to have the claws on
the front paws of the animal permanently removed for
the purpose of protecting family and furniture from
scratches? and is it permissible by Islam to have a surgical
proceure done on the animal which will make the pet inable
to produce offspring (even though it will stil be able
to function sexually just not reproduce)? The vet told us
that if we do not have our cat nuetered it is very likely he
will begin marking his territory in our home by urinating
on furniture and various places within the home.
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
There is nothing wrong _ in sha Allaah _ with
de-clawing a cat, but that is subject to the condition that it should
not hurt the animal. There are many medical means
nowadays of doing that without causing pain. Causing pain
to animals is haraam.
Secondly:
Preventing your cat from reproducing is preventing
a natural process that Allaah has created in it.
Undoubtedly the rulings on animals are not as serious as in the case
of humans, but this does not mean violating the rights of
the creation of Allaah.
If this operation will cause harm, or it will
cause complications for the cat, then it is not permissible.
The prohibition against causing harm is general and
includes harm against both humans and animals. There
follow some of the ahaadeeth that indicate this:
It was narrated from Ibn `Umar (may Allaah be
pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "A woman entered Hell because of
a cat which she tied up and did not feed, nor did she
allow it to eat of the vermin of the earth."
The vermin of the earth means mice, etc.
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3140; Muslim, 2242. There
is also a similar report from Abu Hurayrah).
It was narrated from Jaabir ibn `Abd-Allaah that a
donkey whose face had been branded passed by the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and he said,
"May Allaah curse the one who branded him."
(Narrated by Muslim, 2217).
The scholars differed concerning the neutering of
non-humans:
The Hanafis said that there is nothing wrong
with neutering animals, because that benefits both the
animals and humans.
The Maalikis said that it is permissible to neuter
animals whose meat may be eaten, and it is not makrooh,
because that makes the meat better.
The Shaafa'is made a distinction between animals
whose meat is eaten and others. They said that it is
permissible to neuter animals when they are small if they are
animals whose meat is eaten, but it is haraam in other cases.
They also stipulated the condition that this neutering
should not cause the animal's death.
As for the Hanbalis, it is permissible in their view to
neuter sheep because that makes the meat better, but it was
said that it is makrooh in the case of horses etc.
Imam Ahmad said: I do not like for a man to
neuter anything, rather that is makrooh because of the
prohibition on causing pain to animals.
See al-Majmoo' 6/155; al-Adab
al-Shar'iyyah, 3/144, 145; al-Fataawa
al-Hindiyyah, 5/358)
There is also a comment on neutering cats: "If
neutering cats will bring some benefit or ward off some harm,
then there is nothing wrong with it, as it says in
al-Kubra." (al-Fawaakih
al-Dawaani, 2/346)
Hence we say that if there is some benefit in
neutering the cat and if that will not cause its death, then it
is permissible.
Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said:
If there are too many cats and they are a nuisance, and
if the operation will not harm them, then there is
nothing wrong with it, because this is better than killing
them after they have been created. But if the cats are
ordinary cats and are not causing a nuisance, perhaps it is better
to leave them alone to reproduce.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/448
And Allaah knows best.
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14422: Keeping pets
Question:
Is it haram to keep Pet fish? and also I heard
somewhere that the dog was created from the dirt taken from the
area of the belly button where Satan spat on Adam (AS)?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
There is nothing wrong with keeping animals for
which there is no Islamic prohibition on keeping them (such
as dogs and pigs). There are reports in the Sunnah
which indicate that some of the Sahaabah kept
permissible animals for farming purposes or for fun and for pleasure.
It was narrated from Anas (may Allaah be pleased
with him) that he had a young brother who had a nughar
(a small bird or nightingale). The bird died, and the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw
him looking sad and grieved, so he joked with him, and
said to him words which implied approval of his keeping
this bird. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said to him, "O Abu Umayr, what happened to
the nughayr?"
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) told us that a woman entered Hell because of a
cat "which she did not feed, neither did she let it eat from
the vermin of the earth." From this it may be understood
that if she had fed it, she would have been saved from
that threat.
And it was said that Abu Hurayrah was so called
because of a cat (hirr, dim. hurayrah) which used to
accompany him.
So keeping permissible animals, so long as you do
not neglect them, is something which is permitted and it
may even be one of the means of earning reward, as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said,
"In every living being there is reward." But if you
keep animals and neglect and abuse them, it may be one of
the means that lead to sin and the threat of Hell, as in
the hadeeth about the woman who neglected her cat until
it died.
We would also like to point out that Islam preceded
both western and eastern organizations in proclaiming
the rights of women, animals, workers, employers and so
on. Indeed, the greatest rights which it proclaimed are
the rights of Allaah over His creation and the rights of
people over Allaah.
We would also point out that care and concern for
human beings should take precedence over the care of
animals, and that the reward for that is greater. [The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:] "Ward
off the Fire even with half a date [i.e., by giving half a date
in charity]" and "I and the one who sponsors an orphan
will be like these two in Paradise" _ and he gestured with
his index finger and the one next to it. And there are
other similar ahaadeeth from the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him).
On this basis, there is nothing wrong with your
keeping fish as you mentioned in your question, so long as
you take care of feeding them and avoiding anything that
could cause their death. And Allaah knows best.
With regard to the creation of dogs, Allaah created
them as He created all other animals; it is not permissible
to claim that dogs were created from any specific
substance without having evidence for that. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):
"and we testify not except according to what
we know"[Yoosuf 12:81]
With regard to Iblees, Allaah commanded him to
prostrate to Adam and he refused and was arrogant, then what
he did was to tempt Adam to eat from the tree from
which he had been forbidden to eat. There was no kind of
dirt, and Allaah knows best. I do not know anything of
the argument which you mentioned.
One aspect of the Qur'aanic guidance is that it
mentioned the knowledge which the Muslim needs in this world
and in the Hereafter; with regard to knowledge for which
there is no need, the Qur'aan does not mention it, so as to
teach the Muslims to focus on beneficial knowledge and
to ignore everything else. For example, the Qur'aanic
text does not mention the colour of the dog which
belonged to the People of the Cave, or the kind of wood from
which the ship (ark) of Nooh was built, and other matters
which are irrelevant and produce no beneficial knowledge
or belief. Perhaps speaking of the substance from which
dogs were created comes under the same heading. And
Allaah knows best.
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13658: It is not permissible to use animals for
target practice
Question:
I killed a Rabbit by shooting it for the purpose of
practicing my aim. I buried it afterward. I deeply regret what I
did. What is the Islamic Ruling on that?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Undoubtedly this action that you did is something
which is forbidden according to sharee'ah and is not
permitted. This is a form of tormenting animals which the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade.
1. It was narrated in the hadeeth from `Abd-Allaah
ibn `Umar that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "A woman was
punished for a cat which she imprisoned until it died, and
she entered Hell because of that. She did not feed it or give
it water when she imprisoned it, and she did not leave
it free to eat of the vermin of the earth." (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 2236; Muslim, 2242). Al-Nawawi said:
the apparent meaning of the hadeeth is that she went to
Hell only because of this sin.
2. It was narrated from Ibn `Umar (may Allaah be
pleased with him) that he entered upon Yahyaa ibn Sa'eed
and one of Yahyaa's sons had tied up a hen and was
shooting at it. Ibn `Umar walked over to him and untied it, then
he brought it and the boy and said, "Do not allow your
boys to tie up birds in order to kill them, for I heard
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) forbidding the tying up of animals or
other creatures in order to kill them."
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5195; Muslim, 1958.
The version narrated by Muslim says, "The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
cursed those who do that.")
3. It says in another hadeeth which was narrated from
Ibn `Abbaas that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do not use anything
in which there is a soul as a target." (Narrated by
Muslim, 1957).
Al-Nawawi said:
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) forbade detaining or tying up animals
(for the purpose of killing them); according to another
report, `Do not take anything in which there is a soul as a
target.' The scholars said that tying up animals means
restraining them whilst they are still alive in order to use them
as targets and so on. The words `Do not take anything
in which there is a soul as a target' means do not use
living animals as targets for shooting as targets made of
leather and so on are used. This prohibition means that
doing this is haraam. Hence the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, according to the
report narrated by Ibn `Umar which follows this report:
"Allaah cursed the one who does that." And because it is
torturing animals, a waste of their [animals'] lives, a waste
of money, causing the animal to die without slaughtering
it in the proper Islamic manner if it is an animal whose
meat may be eaten, and wasting an animal from which
benefit may be derived in other ways if it is an animal
whose meat may not be eaten.
Sharh Muslim, 13/108
You must repent sincerely to Allaah from this deed
and seek His forgiveness, and do lots of good deeds so
that Allaah will forgive your sin.
And Allaah is the Guide to the straight path.
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11437: what is the fate of animals in the Day
of Resurrection
Question:
Recently my 20 year old cat died and my young
nieces asked whether animals would go to heaven and I
really could not answer them since I don't know the
answers myself. Do they go to heaven/hell and how can we
make amends if we were cruel to the animals (especially
since they have since died)?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
This question is in two parts:
1 _ what is the fate of animals in the Hereafter?
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And when the wild beasts shall be gathered together"
[al-Takweer 81:5]
"There is not a moving (living) creature on earth, nor
a bird that flies with its two wings, but are
communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book,
then unto their Lord they (all) shall be gathered"
[al-An'aam 6:38]
Ibn `Abbaas said: "Everything will be gathered, even
the flies."
On the Day of Resurrection, the animals will settle
scores between one another. It says in a hadeeth of Abu
Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "All scores will be settled
on the Day of Resurrection; even the hornless sheep
will settle its scores with the horned sheep." (Narrated
by Muslim, al-Birr wa'l-Silah
wa'l-Adaab, 4679).
It says in another hadeeth: "Allaah will judge
between His creation, jinn, humans and animals. On that Day
the score will be settled between the hornless and the
horned, until there are no outstanding issues left, then Allaah
will say, `Be dust!' At the point the
kaafir will say, `Would that I were dust!'" Shaykh al-Albaani said: This is
saheeh. No. 1966; see al-Silsilah
al-Saheehah, part 4, p. 966
What is obligatory for the Muslim is to be kind to
animals and not harm or annoy them. It was reported that a
woman was punished because of a cat. Al-Bukhaari narrated
from Ibn `Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both)
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "A woman went to Hell because of a cat which
she tied up, and did not feed it or let it eat of the vermin of
the earth." (Bad' al-Khalq, 3071)
And Allaah forgave a prostitute because she was kind
to a dog. Al-Bukhaari also narrated that Abu Hurayrah
(may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: `Whilst a dog was walking around a well, almost
dying of thirst, one of the prostitutes of Bani Israa'eel saw
him, took off her shoe and gave him water. She was
forgiven because of that." (Ahaadeeth
al-Anbiyaa', 3208)
Whoever harms an animal has to repent to Allaah for
that, because the Lord of the animals is the One Who
has commanded us to be kind towards them (unless they
are harmful).
Islam Q&A
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20053: Getting cats "fixed" (spayed or neutered)
Question:
is it wrong for us to neuter the cats that we have
as otherwise we would be having too many kittens,
and would have to send them to the SPCA which would
put them to sleep if nobody took them in.
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
If the operation will not harm the animal, then it is
OK, because this is better than killing animals after they
have been created.
Fatwa of Shaykh Ibn `Uthaymeen, from Kitaab
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/448
(www.islam-qa.com)
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8814: Killing old and sick animals
Question:
is it permissible to put an animal to sleep (euthanasia)
if the animal is old and in pain?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-`Uthaymeen was
asked this question and he said:
If an animal gets sick, if it is an animal whose meat it
is not permissible to eat, and there is no hope that it
will recover, then there is no sin on you if you kill it,
because if it is kept alive it will become a burden on you
which may be a waste of your money, as you will have to
spend on it and this spending will be a waste of your
money. Keeping it alive until it dies without giving it food
and drink is haraam, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "A women went to
Hell because of a cat which she detained. She did not feed
it when she detained it, and she did not let it free to eat
of the vermin of the earth." But if it is an animal
whose meat may be eaten, and it reaches a state where you
cannot benefit from it or give it to someone else who can
benefit from it, then the ruling is the same as that concerning
an animal whose meat is haraam, i.e., it is permissible
to kill it, whether you slaughter it or kill it with bullets.
Do whatever is easiest on the animal, because the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "If
you kill, kill well, and if you slaughter, slaughter well.
Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him
spare suffering to the animal he slaughters."
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-`Uthaymeen From (Fataawa Manaar al-Islaam, 3/750) (www.islam-qa.com)
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8804: Killing animals which have become a nuisance
Question:
In our building there is a feral cat. Is it permissible to
kill it?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
If a cat or similar animal is known to be a nuisance
and aggressive, and a man kills it when it is acting
aggressively for his own protection, he does not owe any
compensation for doing so. It is like when a man kills an attacker
in self-defence. And Allaah knows best.
Fataawa al-Imaam al-Nawawi, 220 (www.islam-qa.com)
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3005: Can harmful insects be killed by burning them?
Question:
Is it permissible to kill insects that may be found in
the house, such as ants, cockroaches and the like, by
burning them? If it is not permissible, what should we do?
Answer:
If these insects are harmful, they may be killed
with insecticides, but not with fire. The Messenger (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There are
five pests that may be killed whether one is in ihraam or
not: rats, scorpions, crows, kites [a hawk-like bird], and
mad dogs." (Reported by Muslim, 2071). Another report
adds a sixth, snakes. Thus the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) told us that they are harmful
pests, and that they are unlike other animals which do not
do harm, and so he told us to kill them whether we are
in ihraam or not. If other creatures, such as ants
or cockroaches or dung-beetles, cause harm, they may
also be killed with insecticides, but not with fire. And
Allaah knows best.
Fataawa Islaamiyaah, Ibn Baaz, 451. (www.islam-qa.com)
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