Animals are a trust from Allah

Allah made animals, and He cares for every one of them. He says: there is no animal on the earth, and no bird flying with its wings, except they are communities like you¹. And: there is no creature on the earth except that its provision is on Allah².

Allah made many animals to help us, with warmth, benefit and food³. So using animals, enjoying them and keeping them is part of Allah's gift.

But a gift comes with a trust. Nabi ﷺ said: the Most Merciful shows mercy to those who are merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth, and the One above the heavens will be merciful to you⁴⁵. He also said: whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy⁶.

Good news first: most of this is halal

• Keeping a cat at home is halal. A cat is clean.
• Keeping birds, fish, rabbits, horses and many other animals is halal, if you care for them.
• Touching a dog is not haram. If the dog and your hand are both dry, nothing happens in any school.
• Keeping a dog for guarding, farming, hunting or a real need is allowed by all four schools.

The haram part of this chapter is short: cruelty, and a few rules about dogs. The rest is about kindness, and it brings great reward.

Two stories: a thirsty dog and a hungry cat

• The dog. A man gave water to a thirsty dog, and Allah thanked him and forgave him⁷⁸. In another hadith, a woman who had lived a sinful life did the same, and Allah forgave her⁹¹⁰.
• The cat. A woman locked up a cat until it died. She did not feed it, and she did not let it go to find its own food. She entered the Fire because of it¹¹¹².

One small act of mercy brought forgiveness. One act of cruelty brought punishment. If you keep an animal, its food and water are your duty. If you cannot care for it, let it go or give it to someone who can.

Caring for an animal is a duty

Once you take an animal into your care, its needs become your responsibility in front of Allah.

• Nabi ﷺ saw a camel so thin its stomach touched its back. He said: fear Allah about these animals that cannot speak. Ride them while they are in good health, and eat them while they are in good health¹⁴. In other words, look after them properly the whole time they are in your hands.
• Another camel wept when it saw Nabi ﷺ. He wiped its head, then asked for its owner and said: do you not fear Allah about this animal Allah gave you? It has complained to me that you keep it hungry and work it too hard¹⁵.
• The Companions once took two baby birds from their nest. The mother bird came, flapping her wings. Nabi ﷺ said: who has hurt this one by taking her young? Give them back to her¹⁶.

What this means for a pet owner today

• Food and clean water, every day, enough for its needs.
• Shelter from heat, cold and rain.
• Care when it is sick or hurt, including a vet when needed.
• If you can no longer care for it, find it a good home. Do not dump it on the street.

Feeding a stray cat, putting out water for birds, or helping an injured animal are all good deeds with reward.

Cats

Cats are clean in Islam, and keeping one at home is halal.

• Abu Qatadah once tipped his wudu water so a cat could drink from it, then used the rest. He said Nabi ﷺ taught: the cat is not unclean. It is one of those who go around among you¹⁷¹⁸.
• So water a cat has drunk from is still clean, even for wudu. See Water for purity.
• A cat walking on your prayer mat, or cat hair on your clothes, does not spoil your salah.
• Cat urine and stool are najis (impure), like those of other animals we do not eat. Clean them up with water. See Najasa.

The Companion Abu Hurairah got his famous name from a cat. Abu Hurairah means "father of the little cat". He said he used to look after his family's sheep, and he had a small kitten he played with during the day, so people called him by it¹⁹.

Dogs: working dogs and pet dogs

Working dogs are allowed

• Allah allows us to eat what trained hunting dogs catch for us, if we say Allah's name²⁰.
• Nabi ﷺ said: whoever keeps a dog loses some reward every day, except a dog for guarding a farm or livestock, or for hunting²¹²².
• The Quran even mentions the dog of the righteous young men in the cave, stretching its paws at the entrance²³.

So keeping a dog for guarding, farming, herding or hunting is allowed by all four schools.

Keeping a dog only as a pet

Nabi ﷺ said: whoever keeps a dog that is not for hunting or guarding livestock, his reward is reduced by two qirat every day²⁴²⁵. (A qirat is a large share of reward. Another narration says one qirat²⁶.)

What counts as a need today

Many scholars today say the idea is a dog that does a real job. So they also allow:

• Guarding a home where there is real danger, especially a lonely farm or house.
• Guide dogs and other service dogs (see below).
• Police, search and rescue dogs.

Kindness to every dog

Whatever the ruling on keeping one, every dog has a right to mercy. The forgiven man in the story above gave water to a dog²⁷. Hurting, kicking or starving a dog, or any animal, is haram.

Is a dog's saliva najis?

Nabi ﷺ said: if a dog licks your dish, throw away what was in it and wash the dish seven times²⁸, the first time with earth²⁹.

• Dry touch: if both you and the dog are dry, nothing happens in any school. Just carry on.
• Wet touch: if its wet nose or saliva touched your hand or clothes, wash the spot as your school says. Many people today use soap and water with the first wash in place of earth. Scholars differ on whether soap counts as earth.
• For more on najasa and how to clean it, see Najasa: what is impure and how to clean it.

Angels and a house with a dog

Nabi ﷺ said: the angels do not enter a house that has a dog or a picture in it³⁰³¹. This hadith is sahih (sound).

What scholars say it means

• Which angels? Scholars say these are the angels of mercy and blessing. The angels who write your deeds and the angels who protect you never leave you, wherever you are.
• Working dogs. Scholars differ. Some, like al-Khattabi, said a dog that is allowed to be kept, such as a guard or hunting dog, does not stop the angels. Others, like an-Nawawi, said the hadith covers every dog, since even a puppy Nabi ﷺ did not know about kept Jibril away. So many families keep a guard dog outside the main rooms.
• Pictures in the same hadith are a separate topic, covered in Music, pictures and entertainment.

This hadith is not a curse on anyone. It tells us how to keep our homes full of blessing.

Birds, fish and other pets

Birds

Anas had a little brother called Abu Umair, who had a small bird he played with. When Nabi ﷺ visited, he would kindly joke with the boy: O Abu Umair, what did the little bird do?³³³⁴.

• From this, scholars say a child may keep a bird and play with it, if it is fed and not hurt. Nabi ﷺ saw it and did not stop it.
• Birds in cages: most scholars allow it, as long as the bird has enough space, food and water, and is not harmed. Some scholars disliked keeping a bird caged only to enjoy its song, since a bird is made to fly. Both are views of real scholars. Whatever you choose, give it a big cage and care for it well.

Fish

• A fish tank is halal, if the fish have clean water, the right food and enough room.

Other animals

• Rabbits, hamsters, tortoises, horses, chickens, goats and other animals may be kept, for fun, beauty, work or food.
• Allah made horses to ride, and as something beautiful³⁵.
• The one rule for all of them: give them what they need, and do not harm them.

What is haram: cruelty

Allah has written excellence for everything. Nabi ﷺ said: when you kill, kill well, and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Sharpen your blade and let the animal be at ease³⁶.

Not allowed

• Hitting an animal on the face, or branding its face. Nabi ﷺ forbade both³⁷. He saw a donkey branded on its face and said: Allah has cursed the one who branded it³⁸. Marking an animal elsewhere, such as the ear, for a real need is allowed. Anas saw Nabi ﷺ marking a sheep, he thought on its ears³⁹.
• Using a living animal as a target. Nabi ﷺ said: do not take anything that has a soul as a target⁴⁰. Ibn Umar saw young men shooting arrows at a tied-up hen and said Nabi ﷺ cursed whoever does this⁴¹.
• Animal fights, like dog fights, cock fights or bull fights for fun or money. A hadith that names this directly is weak, but scholars agree it is haram because of the clear rules on mercy above. Betting on them adds the sin of gambling.
• Hunting only for sport, killing an animal and leaving it. Hunting for food is halal⁴². Killing just for fun, with no use, is not allowed according to most scholars.
• Burning a living creature. Nabi ﷺ saw an ant colony that had been burned and said: no one should punish with fire except the Lord of the fire⁴³.
• Starving, overworking, or locking up an animal and forgetting it, as in the story of the cat⁴⁴.

If you were cruel to an animal in the past, maybe as a child, do not carry it forever. Repent to Allah, and make up for it by being kind to animals from now on. Allah forgave a sinful woman for giving water to one dog⁴⁵.

Harmful creatures

Creatures that cause real harm may be killed.

• Nabi ﷺ said five harmful creatures may be killed even inside the Haram of Makkah: the crow, the kite (a bird of prey), the scorpion, the mouse and the rabid dog⁴⁶.
• Snakes that are a danger may be killed. But for snakes found living inside a house, Nabi ﷺ later told people not to kill them straight away⁴⁷. Scholars say: warn it to leave first, unless it is clearly dangerous.
• Nabi ﷺ told people to kill geckos (house lizards), calling them a small harmful creature⁴⁸.
• Pests like cockroaches, rats, mosquitoes, lice and bed bugs may be removed or killed, because of the harm and disease they bring.

But kill well

• Use the quickest way with the least pain. Do not play with a creature or let it suffer slowly⁴⁹.
• Some creatures should not be killed: Nabi ﷺ forbade killing ants, bees, the hoopoe and the surad (a small bird)⁵⁰. Scholars say this means when they cause no harm.

When an animal is suffering

Sometimes a vet says a pet is in great pain with no real hope of getting better. Can it be put to sleep? This is a hard moment, and scholars have more than one view.

• Many scholars today allow it when there is no real hope and the pain is severe. They see it as mercy, to end suffering in the gentlest way, as Nabi ﷺ told us to kill well⁵¹.
• Other scholars say do not end its life. Ease its pain with medicine, care for it, and let it die in the time Allah wrote for it.

Both are views of real scholars. Speak to your vet about the animal's pain, and to a scholar you trust about the ruling. Whatever you decide out of mercy, do not blame yourself afterward.

For an animal we eat that is about to die, it can be slaughtered the halal way while still alive. See Meat and slaughter.

Service and guide dogs

A blind person who uses a guide dog, or a person with a disability who needs a service dog, has a real need. Many scholars today say keeping such a dog is allowed, just like a guard dog or a hunting dog. Islam came to make life easier for people in need, not harder.

• A Muslim taxi or shop owner asked to let in a guide dog: many scholars say you may, and should, help the person. A dry dog does not make your seat or floor najis. If there is wetness, you can wash the spot later. In many countries the law also requires it, so check the rules where you live.
• In the masjid: many scholars say a guide dog should wait outside the prayer hall, or in a place the masjid sets aside, and the person can be helped to their place. Ask your masjid what they have arranged.

Common questions

A dog licked my hand at a friend's house. What do I do?

Shafi'is and Hanbalis say wash it seven times, once with earth⁵². Hanafis say wash the spot. Malikis say it is clean. If it was a dry touch, nothing happens. Do not let this make you unkind to your friend or their dog.

My children really want a pet. What is easiest?

A cat, a bird, fish or a rabbit are all halal and easy in Islam. A cat is clean, and its leftover water is clean⁵³. Teach the children that feeding and caring for it is a good deed, with reward⁵⁴.

Can I feed my cat or dog pet food that has pork in it?

Scholars differ. Many say choose food with no pork when you can, since that is easy today, and avoid buying and handling pork. Others allow it, since the animal is not bound by our rules. Follow a scholar you trust.

Is it allowed to have my pet spayed or neutered?

Scholars differ. Many today allow it for the animal's health, or to stop many unwanted kittens and puppies who would suffer on the street. Others dislike it, since it changes Allah's creation without great need. Ask a scholar you trust, and a vet about the animal's health.

I feed the stray cats in my street. Is there reward in that?

Yes. Nabi ﷺ said there is reward in every living thing⁵⁵. Keep the area clean so it does not harm your neighbors.

We have mice in the house. Can we use traps or poison?

Yes, mice are among the harmful creatures that may be killed⁵⁶. Choose a method that kills quickly, and do not leave an animal to suffer for a long time⁵⁷.