abu'muhammad
Junior Member
The Love of Animals
Islam urges people to be respectful and merciful towards animals.
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.
By Hediyah Al-Amin
Allah knows best.
Islam urges people to be respectful and merciful towards animals.
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.
By Hediyah Al-Amin
Allah knows best.
