Brief Comments on Riyaadh al-Saaliheen #50

Etiquette on killing harmful animals

بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen of Shaikh al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله]

The Shaikh رحمه الله said:

The scholars have a principle (in regards to animals):

ما آذى طبعاً قتل شرعاً

That which has a nature to harm, is permissible to kill. [1]

Meaning: That which by its nature is bound to cause damage, killing it is permissible. But that which by its nature is not harmful, but it has caused you harm in some way, you can kill it (too). But this last point (about killing non-harmful animals) has limitations.

If the ants cause damage to your house by digging up your house and spoiling it, you can kill them, even if though the killing of them has been prohibited. [2] So if it causes you harm, you can kill them. Similarly, anything other than them, which by its nature is not harmful, but you have been harmed by it, then killing it is allowed if there is no other way to remove the harm except by killing it.

For example: if you want to kill a rat, and its killing is preferred [3], then you should kill it in a proper way. Kill it in a way that it dies instantly instead of making it to suffer. One of the ways some people make it suffer is by using (rat) glue (or something sticky) to which the rat gets stuck, and then they leave it to die of hunger and thirst. And this is not allowed.

If you use the glue (or something sticky), then make sure you keep monitoring the place (where you’ve set the trap), so that once you find something caught you kill it (immediately). But if you leave it the glue for two or three days (and do not monitor it), and the rat gets caught in it and it dies of thirst and hunger; it is feared that you might enter the fire due to that, because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

دخلت النار امرأة في هرة حبستها حتى ماتت لا هي أطعمتها ولا هي أرسلتها تأكل من خشاش الأرض

“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 insects of the earth” [4]

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[1] More on this principle can be read from:

مجموع فتاوى ابن تيمية ( 26 / 118 ) عمدة القاري للعيني ( 14 / 268 ) ( 10 / 183 ) فتح الباري ( 4 / 40 ) ( 6 / 358 ) الموافقات ( 1 / 136 ، 138 ) هداية الحيارى لابن القيم ( ص 21 )

[2] lbn `Abbaas رضي الله عنهما said: “The Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم forbade killing four kinds of animals: Ants, bees, hoopoes and shrikes.” [Sunan Abu Dawood (5267) and Sunan Ibn Maajah (3224) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]

[3] Narrated `Aaishah رضي الله عنها: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Five kinds of animals are mischief-doers and can be killed even in the Sanctuary (in Ihraam): They are the rat, the scorpion, the kite, the crow and the rabid dog.” [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (3314, 3315) and Saheeh Muslim (2078, 2080, 2082)]

[4] Musnad Ahmad (27418, 27233) and the wordings are his; also reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (745, 2365, 3318, 3482) and Saheeh Muslim (1513, 1514, 4167, 4168, 4755, 4756, 4757).