The keeping of pets.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Assalaam Alaikum WRWB
Brother Burhan, kindly throw some light on “Pets” as per
Quran and Sunnah…
I know that our beloved Prophet Mohammed (SAWS) loved
cats, but what about fish – is keeping an Aquarium in the house allowed? Or are
we kind of torturing them because, they are not in the open river or sea? Jazak
Allahu Khairan
FYI – I tried to access your website for archived
information on “pets”, but the website was down.
ALLAH Hafiz
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
The keeping of pets
In the name of Allah,
We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah
guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide
them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah
Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the
seal of His Messengers.
Islam does not prohibit the
believers from keeping pure animals or birds or fish as pets, if one indeed
wishes to do so…..but Islam strictly guides that if one chooses to keep animals
as pets, they should honor them and provide sufficiently for them. If one is unable to take care of their pets,
then it would be best to let them free so that they may search for their own
sustenance; but if perchance one were to keep pets and does not provide
sufficiently for them, that indeed would be considered a sin in the Sight of
the Lord.
Sahih Al-Bukhari
Hadith 3.553 Narrated by Abdullah
bin Umar
Allah's Messenger
(saws) said, "A woman was tortured and was put in Hell because of a cat
which she had kept locked till it died of hunger."
Sahih Muslim Hadith
6638A Narrated by Abu Hurayrah
Allah's Messenger
(saws) said: ‘A woman was thrown into Hell-Fire because of a cat whom she had
tied and did not provide it with food, nor did she set it free to eat insects
of the earth until it died inch by inch.’
But if one chooses or wishes to
keep lawful and pure animals as pets and subsequently honors and provides
sufficiently for them, there is absolutely no harm and restriction against such
an indulgence in Islam.
Whatever written of
Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever
of error is of me alone. Allah Alone
Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan