The life of the Holy Prophet of Islam — Page 18
an animal should not be branded on the face, and that if it had to be done, the branding should be done on its haunches. (Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi). There is another Hadith which throws flood of light upon kindness and mercy of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he had for the animals. It is narrated by Sahl ibn Amr, He says: The Messenger of Allah passed by a camel whose stomach almost touched it’s back (from lack of food). Upon seeing this he said: ‘Fear God in treating these unspeaking animals! Ride them while they are in good health, and eat them while they are in good health. ’ (Abu Dawud) Compassion for the birds Hadrat Abdullah ibn Mas’ud Narrates: We were with the Apostle of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) during a journey. He went to ease himself. We saw a bird with her two young ones and we captured her young ones. The bird came and began to spread its wings. The Apostle of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came and said: Who grieved this for its young ones? Return its young ones to it. He also saw an ant village that we had burnt. He asked: Who has burnt this? We replied: We. He said: It is not proper for any to punish with fire except the Lord of fire. (Abu Dawud) There is another similar Hadith in Bukhari where the Companions disturbed the birds by picking their eggs and the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) disliked that: Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was on a journey with his companions, while somebody picked up some bird’s eggs. When the painful voice and fluttering of the bird attracted the attention of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), immediately he asked the man to replace the eggs back in the nest. (Sahih Bukhari) Kindness at the time of slaughtering animals A man had laid down his sheep, in preparation to slaughter it, and then he went about sharpening his knife. Upon seeing this, the Messenger of Allah rebuked him saying: Do you want to kill it twice? Wouldn’t it have been better for you to sharpen your knife before laying it down? (Al-Tabarani and Al-Hakim) Shaddad ibn Aus, one of the companion of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), narrates a similar Hadith about slaughtering animals: Two are the things, which I remember, Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) having said: ‘Verily Allah has enjoined goodness to everything; so when you slaughter, slaughter in a good way. Every one of you should sharpen his knife, and let the slaughtered animal die comfortably. ’ (Sahih Muslim) Heavenly reward for being compassionate to animals It is narrated by Abu Huraira, the companion of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), about the treatment given by a man to a thirsty dog, and its reward, in the following words: Allah’s Apostle said, “While a man was walking he felt thirsty and went down a well and drank water from it. On coming out of it, he saw a dog panting and eating mud because of excessive thirst. The man said, ‘This dog is suffering from the same problem as that of mine. ’ So he went down the well, filled his shoe with water, caught hold of it with his teeth and climbed up and made the dog drink the water. Allah thanked him for his good deed and forgave him. ” People asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?” He replied, “Yes, there is a reward for serving any animate. ” (Sahih Bukhari)