'Be Kind to Animals'

 

According to Islamic teachings, birds and animals are communities like us human beings; just and kind treatment of animals is an obligation upon us. Kind treatment of animals is among the good deeds worthy of ultimate Divine rewards of forgiveness and salvation in the life to come. Likewise, cruel treatment of living beings entails consequences for the human soul. Explicit guidance of the Holy Prophet (sa) on the treatment of birds and animals leaves one with no doubt about the implications of our deeds vis-a-vis these living beings. Consider the following teachings of the Holy Prophet (sa).

According to Prophetic traditions, Allah (swt) thanked a man and forgave him for giving water to a panting dog eating moist earth in its thirst. The  Ahadith also confirm that ‘there is a reward for your kind treatment of every living being.’ The Holy Prophet (sa) also stated: ‘If any Muslim plants a tree or sows a crop, and then a bird, or a human being, or an animal eats of it, then it is sacred charity to his credit.’  

 

Further, the Holy Prophet (sa) relates: ‘A woman entered Hellfire because of a cat that she kept tied up, neither feeding it nor letting it go to eat of the vermin of the earth.’  

 

He also narrates, “one of the prophets stopped to rest under a tree, and an ant stung him. The prophet had his baggage removed from beneath the tree and ordered that fire be set to the ants’ abode. But then God inspired him with the thought, ‘Why not just one ant?’ ”  

 

The Holy Prophet (sa) also states: ‘A prostitute was forgiven because she passed by a dog panting at a well, and observing that thirst was about to kill the dog, she removed her slipper, fastened it to her veil, and drew out some water for the dog. And so she was forgiven because of that.’  

 

In response to a question on the cruel treatment of animals by human beings, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius profoundly explains Islamic ethics on this vital issue. 

Read the Response Below: 

Ramadan: The Spirit of Caring

 

The Month of Ramadan 

We live in a special time: never before have human beings experienced such spectacular advancement in terms of progress and enrichment; never has he had so much capacity to communicate, to live together, to converse. Yet never has he been so self-centered, selfish, and so careless about the plight of others. Unfortunately, the Muslim [nowadays] follows the same path- thus, going against divine injunctions.

 

God knows our propensity to forget and not to be persistent in recalling; that is why He has prescribed acts of worship for us in order to make our conscience and our hearts come alive to His remembrance. The fast of the month of Ramadan is part of this education, of this elevation of the soul, once a year for a month. God asks us to deprive ourselves of these essential things that are our daily concerns: eating, drinking; things so common for us that they become commonplace. Abundance makes us forget that one day we might not have any more. We no longer even know how to appreciate the pleasures we taste. Worse, there are on this earth, at the same time as we eat and we are satisfied [i.e. eating to our fill], men and women who would like to be able to have a tenth of what we consume. Because of distress caused by poverty, they have to endure hunger and thirst. But they also and above all have to endure our passivity and our disinterest. However, they are our brothers and our sisters not in Islam only but in humanity as well.

 

God has put abundance in this world so that every man can benefit from his share of sustenance; however, it is a minority that controls and consumes most of the wealth. It is such an injustice which is accentuated by our passivity when it is not our selfishness.  

The month of Ramadan has been ordained in order to instill awareness and a reminder. Above all, remember Allah with intensity and foresight. Leaving a little of this temporal world to rise to the consciousness of the Most High. The fast of this blessed month is a source of reminder for those who want to remember. Then, it wants to be a call to altruism and solidarity, because we cannot as a Muslim or even quite simply as a human being live in the indifference of what is happening in a large part of the world; to pretend that there are no men and women who live in destitution and poverty; without knowing that every day in the world many children die of starvation. “It’s normal”, we say to ourselves, “How could we know that when we’re not talking about it in the press or on television?”

 

We cannot as Muslims, as beings with a heart, step back and pretend these sad and bitter realities do not exist, and to just look where the spotlight falls.

'Keep Your Compassion Alive'

The Divine Quality of Mercy/Compassion

In Islam, mercy implies the fear of Allah the Almighty. For it is with this fear of Allah the Almighty that the highest degrees (of faith etc.) are reached, torments are dispelled, the evil influence of Satan is repulsed. According to the Quranic verses and various Hadiths, it is clear that life on earth is built on foundations and principles that engender happiness and encourage creatures to help one another with mercy foremost.

Indeed, mercy is a great quality that Allah the Almighty has given to the blessed and deprived the unfortunate. Mercy is implanted in the heart of every creature but it is up to this one to know how to keep this mercy alive for the sake of Allah the Almighty.

According to Abu Huraira (ra) the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, as reported through the pages of Sahih Al-Bukhari: “Truly Allah possesses a hundred mercies and of them there is one mercy through which all creation show mercy to one another and ninety nine are for the day of resurrection...” Alhamdulillah!

Mercy is one of the beautiful qualities of Allah the Almighty. For us, the creatures of Allah the Almighty, mercy is a quality of perfection. With mercy, creatures feel tenderness towards one another. He who is strong has pity/ compassion on him who is weak. That's mercy. The rich man never hesitates to help the poor, the destitute and the needy. That's mercy. For us (Muslims) in the Ummah, mercy is even an obligation at the level of the family as well as of society. And that pleases Allah the Almighty Who then sends His blessings on those who grant mercy (to others) in their daily occupations.