Animal Rights in Islam: Cruelty to Animals

​Muslim scholars agree that animals have rights in Islam. Caring for animals is a basic principle in Islam and one that predates modern animal rights movements, as Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi points out here:

"Islam preceded Animal Care Societies by thirteen hundred years and made kindness to animals a part of the faith and cruelty to them a sufficient reason for a person to be thrown into Hell-fire."

​All animals have rights in Islam, even insects as renowned American scholar Hamza Yusuf notes in this excerpt from a lecture:

"Animals have rights in Islam. This is not a new concept. Our religion gives animals rights. Ants have rights. In the book of zuhd, one of the sahaba used to go out and put bed crumbs on the ant hill that was near his house and one of the tabi'in asked what he was doing, he said I don't' want them testifying against me on yawmul qiyama, that I didn't fulfill the rights of the neighbor.  And this is an ant hill."

Does Islam give animals the right to vote, drive, or receive an education? These rights wouldn't make sense for animals, so what "rights" do they have?

Scholars have drawn from the Quran, Ahadith, and fiqh to identify many rights that animals have upon humans.

Forbidding the killing of animals for sport or no reason:

​He told that the Prophet cursed those who used a living creature as a target. (Bukhari and Muslim)

​Whoever kills a small bird for no reason, it will beseech Allah on the Day of Resurrection saying: O Lord, so and so killed me for no reason. (an-Nasa'i)

​Esteemed scholar Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah affirmed this point:

“Furthermore, the sacred law of Islam prohibits killing animals and cutting down trees without right. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, mentioned a specific person who was punished in hell for torturing a cat by locking it up and starving it to death. The Prophet, peace be upon him, prohibited killing ants, bees, and frogs.

Forbidding beating animals:

​The Prophet forbade beating (animals) on the face. (Bukhari)

Forbidding starving animals:

​The Prophet said, "A woman entered the (Hell) Fire because of a cat which she had tied, neither giving it food nor setting it free to eat from the vermin of the earth." (Bukhari)

Forbidding disfiguring or mutilating live animals:

​‘Do not mutilate animals.’ (an-Nasa’i)

​Do not cut the forelocks, manes, or tails of horse, for their tails are their means of driving flies, their manes provide them with warmth, and blessing is tide to their forelocks. (Abu Dawud)

​In his groundbreaking treatise, Rules for Judgement in the Cases of Living Beings, the celebrated jurist al-Sulami identifies other obligations humans have to animals including to not overburden them, not to kill parents in the sight of their young, and not to break their bones or cut their skin until they have died.

All of these acts have one thing in common: cruelty.

Cruelty is knowingly harming and/or causing pain or suffering unnecessarily. For example, it is cruel to kill an animal for sport (fun) because it’s not necessary. It is cruel to not give an animal food or water because they will suffer without them. It is cruel to cut off a living animal’s body parts not only because they suffer from pain but from not being able to use it, like a horse who uses her hair and tail to keep warm and drive away swarming flies.
 
Not only is cruelty punished but kindness and mercy to animals is rewarded.

​"A man said, 'Messenger of Allah, I was going to slaughter a sheep and then I felt sorry for it (or 'sorry for the sheep I was going to slaughter').' He said twice, 'Since you showed mercy to the sheep, Allah will show mercy to you.'" (Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)

​"A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that." (Bukhari)

​“A good deed done to an animal is as good as doing good to a human being; while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to human beings.” (Mishkat al-Masabih)

As we can see, harming an animal unnecessarily is cruel and we are obligated to avoid cruelty to animals. Scholar and jurist Abu A’la Mawdudi confirmed this:

“Islam says that all the creation has certain rights upon man. They are: he should not waste them on fruitless ventures nor should he unnecessarily hurt or harm them.

​We must not harm or kill animals when we do not need to and we should strive to show kindness and mercy to animals whenever we can.

​Our concern for animals must extend to all species, as the Quran teaches us that all of Creation is important to Allah (SWT). All animals glorify and worship Him, even though we cannot understand their language:

​“The seven heavens, the Earth, and all those in them glorify Him. There is not a single thing that does not glorify His praises—but you cannot comprehend their glorification.” The Holy Qur’an 17:44

​The Quran reminds us that all animals are social individuals as we are and belong to communities like us.

​“There is no creature moving on the Earth, nor a bird flying on its two wings, but they are all communities like you... ” The Holy Qur'an 6:38

​Our concern for animals extends to even the smallest and least relatable species, as this Hadith about ants notes:

​An ant had bitten a Prophet (one amongst the earlier Prophets) and he ordered that the colony of the ants should be burnt. And Allah revealed to him:" Because of an ant's bite you have burnt a community from amongst the communities which sings My glory." (Muslim)

​Allah (SWT) permits us to use animals for food, clothing, and other reasons because we may need to, but He does not require or compel us to use them, and certainly does not permit us to be cruel to them.
 
Today, it is perfectly possible for many of us to live healthy and faithful lives by not using animals. We are blessed with food and clothing options that are made from plants instead of animals. We can choose to do activities and sports that don’t involve animals. We have modern animal-free methods to conduct scientific research.
 
As renowned scholar B.A. Masri wrote in his landmark work about animals in Islam:

Cruelty to animals has existed throughout the ages. It takes various forms and guises, from cockfighting to cat burning, from sheer overloading of beasts of burden to downright neglect and abuse. Animals have died, and are dying, harsh deaths in traps and snares to provide fur coats and ornaments for the wealthy, and they have been hunted throughout the world for the sheer sport and morbid pleasure of man. However, until very recently the acts of cruelty were on a smaller and individual scale. What has changed now is the nature and extent of the cruelty, which is practiced on a much subtler and wider scale. The most alarming aspect of the current streak of cruelty is that it is being justified in the name of human needs and spurious science . . . All this, and much more, is being done to satisfy human needs most of which are non-essential, fanciful, wasteful and for which alternative humane products are readily available.

​As Masri noted above, alternatives exist for many of us and we should be grateful for them and choose them whenever we can.

​Affordable and plentiful plant-based foods can provide all of the nutrients we need. We can get protein from tofu, tempeh, mock meat, plant-based milk, nuts, seeds, whole grains like oats and rice, and legumes like lentils, chickpeas, and beans. We can get iron from a variety of leafy greens like spinach and kale, tofu, tempeh, legumes, fortified cereals and whole grains like oats and rice. Nearly all of these plant-based foods also contain other essential vitamins that we need to live healthy lives.

Please, do what you can to be kind and show mercy to all animals.