Animal rights in Islam

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Animal rights in Islam

Koran 22:18. Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praises are celebrated by all beings in the heavens and on earth, and by the birds with extended wings? Each one knows its prayer and psalm, And Allah is aware of what they do.

Koran 17:44. The seven heavens and the earth and all things therein declare His glory. There is not a thing but celebrates His adoration and yet ye mankind! Ye understand not how do they declare His glory.

Koran 32:27. And do they not see that We meander water to a barren land and sprout forth from it crops, whereof their cattle as well as they themselves eat? Will they take no notice of it?

Koran 6:38. There is not an animal on earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings, but they are communities like you.


Hadith's about animal rights
In a time when people were killing and torturing people, Prophet Mohammad spoke about animal rights. Subhan Allah! This people made 50 years ago a law that protects the animals, Allah gave us this law almost 1500 years ago. We know that Prophet Mohammad spoke all the languages of the world, he could even speak to animals, like Prophet Solaiman. I know a storie about a donkey, which heard about the death of Prophet Mohammad and this donkey commited suicide because of the grief. There are many stories. Read a few Insha'Allah.

Abu Huraira reported the Prophet as telling of an incident that happened to another prophet in the past. This prophet was stung by an ant and, in anger, he ordered the whole of the ants' nest to be burned. At this, God reprimanded this prophet in these words, 'Because one ant stung you, you have burned a whole community which glorified Me'. (Bukhari and Muslim).

The prophet Mohammad, Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, said, 'Whoever kills a sparrow in vain, that sparrow will cry to Allah for help on the Day of Resurrection, saying, 'O my Lord, so and so the son of so and so killed me in vain and did not kill me for any useful purpose'. (An Nasa'ie, Ibn Hibaan, Ahmad).

The Messenger of Allaah was in the garden of an Ansaarie man one day. There was a camel in that garden and when the camel saw him it groaned and shed tears. The Prophet of Allah wiped the tears and it became calm. He then inquired about the owner of the camel and when its owner appeared before him he said, 'Do you not fear Allah in this animal which Allah has put in your possession? It has complained to me that you starve it'.

Islam teaches us to respect all living things. It enjoins kindness to animals. Animals, just like people, are entitled to receive charity. Once a man asked the Prophet, 'Is there a reward for the charity that we give to animals? He answered, 'For every being possessing a moist liver, there is a reward'. (Bukhari and Muslim).

The Prophet, peace be upon him, told us of a prostitute who earned Allah's forgiveness for showing mercy to a dog. She had found it panting and swallowing up dirt out of severe thirst, so she went down to a well and filled her sock with water and gave it to the dog to drink. Allah was grateful to this woman and rewarded her with Paradise. (This is narrated in Sahih Bukhari).

Likewise, the Prophet informs us of how a woman earned Allah’s wrath for her mistreatment of a cat. She entered the Hellfire on account of a cat that she imprisoned, neither feeding it nor letting it hunt for food. (Sahîh Bukhari).

The prophet Mohammad, Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, said, 'There is no man who kills even a sparrow or anything smaller, without its deserving it, but God will question him about it'. (Nasai, Darimi).

When we slaughter an animal for food, we must do so in the best, most humane manner possible. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, 'When you kill, you should kill well, and when you slaughter, you should slaughter well. Sharpen your knife and give relief to your slaughtered animal'. (Sunan Abu Dawud).

The Prophet said, 'On Doomsday, if any one has a palm shoot in hand, he should plant it (Because he will be rewarded for that)' (Ahmad).

It is related from Abu Darda' that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade eating mujathana animals, that is, animals which have been tied up and shot at with arrows.

The Prophet of Allah said, 'When you journey through a verdant land, go slow to let your camels graze. When you pass through an arid area, quicken your pace lest hunger should enfeeble the animals. Do not pitch your tents for the night on the beaten tracks, for they are the pathways of nocturnal creatures. (Muslim).

The Prophet, peace be upon him, even forbade the cursing of animals, 'Once, while the Prophet was on a journey, he heard a woman invoke Allah's curse upon a camel that she was riding. He said, 'Offload the camel and let it go, since it has been cursed'. (Sahîh Muslim).

Allah’s Messenger, peace be upon him, said, 'Whoever cuts down a lotus tree, Allah will cast him headlong into the Fire'. (Sunan Abu Dawud (5239) and Sunan Al Nasa'i Al Kubra (8611) and authenticated by Albani).

If the lotus tree is growing in a place that people need for other purposes like for agriculture or to build a house or to lay a road, then it is permissible to cut it down. Likewise, it is permitted to cut down a lotus tree if its wood is needed - both its trunk and its stems - to build something like a door, a beehive, or a roof. The same can be said if the people of the household are injured by its thorns or similarly inconvenienced.

This is because the Prophet, Allah's peace be upon him, said, 'Whoever enters a garden may eat from it but should not take anything away in his shirt'. (Tirmidhi).

The prophet said, 'He who takes pity even on a sparrow and spares its life, Allah will be merciful on him on the Day of Judgement'. (Tabarani).
It is related from Sahl ibn Al Handhaliyya that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once passed by a camel that was so emaciated that its back had almost reached its stomach and he said, 'Fear Allah in these beasts who cannot speak (To you). Only ride them when they are in good health and only eat them when they are in good health'.

The Prophet passed by some children who were shooting arrows at a ram. He told them off, saying, 'Do not maim the poor beast'. (Nasai).

The animals we should kill are the snake, the scorpion, the mouse, the kite and the biting dog. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, said, 'There are five debauchees that should be killed at all times, even in the sacred months, the snake, the colored crow, the mouse, the biting dog, and the bird known as a kite'. (This Hadith is narrated in Sahih Al Bukhari 1829 and Sahih Muslim 1198).

Ibn Umar said, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Whoever mutilates a living creature and then does not repent, Allah will mutilate him on the Day of Judgement'.

Another malpractice in Arabia in those days, which caused pain and discomfort to the animals, was stopped by the Holy Prophet in these words, 'Do not store milk in the udders of animals'. (Narrated by Imam Muslim and Imam Bukharie).

The Prophet also said, 'When you set your dog for the chase, mention the name of Allah, if he catches the game, and you reach it while it is still alive, cut, its throat quickly (so it won't suffer)'. (Bukhari, Muslim).

The Prophet Mohammad, said, 'If you send your dog after the game, and it eats part of it, you should not eat of it, for the dog has hunted for itself and not for you; but if you send the dog and it kills the game without eating it, you can eat it, as it has caught it for its master'. (Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim).

The Prophet Mohammad, Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, said, 'Do not clip the forelock of a horse, for a decency is attached to its forelock, nor its mane, for it protects it, nor its tail, for it is its fly flap'. (Abu Dawud).

It is related from A'isha that she was once riding on a camel that was difficult to handle. She began pushing it and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to her, 'You should be gentle with it'.

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'. (Muslim, 1957).

A man once came to Prophet Muhammad carrying with him his belongings and a box. He said, 'O Prophet! While I was passing through a jungle, I heard the voice of some bird's babies. I took them and put them in this box. The moment I did that, their mother came fluttering round my head'. And the Prophet said, 'Put them down'. When the man put the box on the ground, the mother of the young birds joined them. Seeing this, the Prophet asked the man who now had a look of surprise on his face, 'Are you surprised by the affection of the mother towards her young? I swear by Him (Almighty Allah) who has sent me, surely, God is more loving to his servants than the mother to these young birds. Return these baby birds to the place from where you took them, and let their mother be with them'.

'Fear God with regard to animals', said the Prophet of Islam, 'Ride them when they are fit to be ridden, and get off their backs when they are tired; surely, there are rewards for being kind and gentle to animals, and for giving them water to drink'.

The prophet said, 'A good deed done to a beast is as good as doing good to a human being; while an act of cruelty to a beast is as bad as an act of cruelty to human beings'. (This Hadith is narrated by Imam Bukharie and Imam Muslim).

When an ass which had been branded in its face passed him by, he said, 'God curse the one who branded it'. (Muslim, Abu Dawud).

It is narrated that, 'The Holy Prophet Muhammad prohibited the use of skins of wild animals'. (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhie).

The Holy Prophet said, 'Do not ride on saddles made of silk or leopard skins'. (Abu Dawud).

The Prophet Mohammad also said, 'It is a great sin for man to imprison those animals which are in his power'. (Muslim).

Imam Ali had some ducks under his care in his house. At the time of his death, he had given particular advice to his sons to take good care of those animals, or to set them free if it was not possible to look after them properly.

The Prophet of Islam was once performing ablution (Wudhu) for prayers from a pot of water. A cat passed there and turned its eyes at the pot of water with a thirsty look. The Prophet realised at once that the cat was very thirsty, so he stopped the ablution and placed the pot before the cat. Only after the cat had fully quenched its thirst, did the Prophet resume the ablution. By this action, the Prophet has shown that quenching the thirst of even a small dumb animal is a noble act full of virtue and should be given first attention before one prepares for offering prayers to God.

It is narrated, 'The prophet forbade making animals fight each other'. (Abu Dawud 2562, Tirmidhie 319/1, Bukhari, Muslim).

Imam Ali said, 'Be like a bee, anything he heats is clean, anything he drops is sweet and any branch he sits upon does not reak'.

The prophet Mohammad, Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, also said, 'Whoever kills a sparrow or anything bigger than that without just cause, Allaah will hold him accountable on the Day of Judgement'. The listeners asked, 'O Messenger of Allaah, what is a just cause?' He replied, 'That he killed it to eat, not simply chop of its head and then throw it away. (Nasaa'ee, Hakim).

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