Do Animals Have Rights in Islam?

By Editorial Staff

A woman got into Hell-Fire because of a cat whom she had tied.

Allah created man and used him in the earth so that he lives in it according to what his Lord wants. The heavenly messages aim to turn man to the right path whenever he deviated from it. These messages were sealed with Islam. It is the dominant religion over all the previous messages. It was not strange that Islam reforms all the affairs of life, and that its rulings are of the utmost perfection.

On the authority of Abu Ya`la Shaddad ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Verily Allah has prescribed ihsan (proficiency, perfection) in all things. So if you kill then kill well; and if you slaughter, then slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.” (Muslim)

Allah says what means:

Whom Allah has cursed. For he had said, “I will surely take from among Your servants a specific portion. And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them [sinful] desires, and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah .” And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly sustained a clear loss. (An-Nisa 4;118-119)

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messenger of Allah said, “While a man was walking on his way he became extremely thirsty. He found a well, he went down into it to drink water. Upon leaving it, he saw a dog which was panting out of thirst. His tongue was lolling out and he was eating moist earth from extreme thirst. The man thought to himself: ‘This dog is extremely thirsty as I was.’ So he descended into the well, filled up his leather sock with water, and holding it in his teeth, climbed up and quenched the thirst of the dog. Allah appreciated his action and forgave his sins”. The Companions asked: “Shall we be rewarded for showing kindness to the animals also?” He said, “A reward is given in connection with every living creature”. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said:

“A woman got into Hell-Fire because of a cat whom she had tied, and thus it could not eat, and she did not let it free so that it could devour the vermin of the earth, until it died. (Muslim)

Abdullah ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah prohibited to provoke the beasts for fighting. (Abu Dawud)

In this clip, we offer an aspect of the Ihsan (excellency) that Islam has enjoined in terms of treating the animals. You may compare it with the practices of the nations who claim to reach the highest level of civilization.