๐Ÿ•Œ Islamic education

Mercy and kindness to animals

๐Ÿ“– In short

Mercy means caring about others and treating them gently and kindly: young and old, people and animals. God is the Most Merciful and loves those who show mercy, and the Prophet ๏ทบ taught us to be merciful even to cats, birds and ants.

ุงู„ุฑุงุญู…ูˆู† ูŠุฑุญู…ู‡ู… ุงู„ุฑุญู…ู†ุŒ ุงุฑุญู…ูˆุง ู…ู† ููŠ ุงู„ุฃุฑุถ ูŠุฑุญู…ูƒู… ู…ู† ููŠ ุงู„ุณู…ุงุก.

The Most Merciful shows mercy to those who are merciful. Be merciful to those on earth, and the One above the heavens will be merciful to you.

Hadith, reported by Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi

๐Ÿคฉ Did you know?

  • God's names โ€œar-Rahmanโ€ and โ€œar-Rahimโ€ (the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate) are read in the basmalah before every surah except Surat at-Tawbah.
  • The Qur'an has a surah called โ€œThe Antsโ€, with the story of an ant who worried about her sisters, and surahs called the Cow, the Bees, the Spider and the Elephant.
  • The companion โ€œAbu Hurayrahโ€ (father of the kitten) got this name because he carried a little cat and looked after it.
  • There is a reward for giving water to every living thing, as the Prophet ๏ทบ said in a hadith reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

๐Ÿ”Ž Find out more

๐ŸŒŸ The story of the thirsty dog

The Prophet ๏ทบ told of a man who found a dog panting with thirst, so he climbed down into a well, filled his shoe with water and gave it a drink. God thanked him and forgave him. Being good to animals is a great deed.

๐Ÿ” Animals' rights

We feed and water the animals we keep, don't load them with more than they can carry, don't hit them, and don't shut them up without food. We don't hurt birds or take their chicks from their nests.

๐Ÿ’ก Gentleness in everything

The Prophet ๏ทบ said: โ€œGod is gentle and loves gentleness in all things.โ€ So we are gentle with our little brothers and sisters, with the sick and with the elderly, and speak to them kindly.

๐ŸŽฏ Kindness to nature

We water trees and don't break their branches, and we don't throw rubbish into the water. The Prophet ๏ทบ said that whoever plants a tree that a person, bird or animal eats from, it counts as charity for them.

๐Ÿ“š Key words

Mercy
Tenderness of heart that makes us good to others
Gentleness
Kindness and softness in words and actions
Panting
Breathing fast with the tongue hanging out from tiredness or thirst

๐ŸŒฑ Put it into practice today

Put a small dish of water and seeds for the birds on the balcony or in the garden, especially in summer, and watch who comes to drink and eat.

๐Ÿงฉ Test yourself

1 Why did God forgive the man in the story?

2 How do we treat an animal we keep?

3 Who does the Most Merciful show mercy to?

๐Ÿ“š Read next

๐ŸŽฎ Try it yourself