· Ibn 'Abbaas said, “The Messenger of Allah passed by a man who had placed his foot on the face of a sheep while he was sharpening his blade before slaughtering it and it was staring at him. Thereupon he said: ‘Do you wish to kill it twice? Just slaughter it.’” [Al-Bayhaqi]

· Ibn 'Abbaas reported the Messenger of Allah, to have said: “Do not make anything living a target.”[Muslim]. In another narration, he, , cursed those who did this. Thus, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, gave stern warning to those who treated animals unjustly and abused them.

· Jaabir reported, “The Messenger of Allah forbade killing the animal after tying it.” [Muslim] The reason for this is that it tortures the animal emotionally before the animal is slaughtered.

· Not only did the Prophet, , forbid killing animals after tying them, he even forbade hitting animals. Jaabir reported, “The Messenger of Allah forbade hitting the animal on its face.” [Abu Daawood]

· Ibn 'Abbaas said, “An ass with a brand on the face happened to pass before the Prophet . Thereupon, he said: ‘May Allah curse the one who has branded it (on the face).’”[Muslim]

· The Prophet’s, instructions, were not limited to this; he also warned and threatened those who oppressed animals and mistreated them. Ibn ‘Umar said, “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘A woman was punished in Hell because of a cat which she had confined until it died. She did not give it anything to eat or drink when it was confined, nor did she free it so that it might eat the vermin of the earth.’”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]This story shows that those who are guilty of ill-treatment of animals will be severely punished.

On the other hand, the Prophet, also encouraged others to show kindness towards animals.Just as he, , used to caution his Companions about the consequence of treating animals harshly and unjustly, he, , would also encourage them by informing them of the great rewards given to those who are kind and compassionate towards animals. The following are Hadeeths where we are told of these rewards:

· Abu Hurayrah reported,

“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘While a man was walking on his way, he became extremely thirsty. He found a well and went down into it to drink water. Upon leaving it, he saw a dog that was panting out of thirst. His tongue was lolling out and he was eating moist earth due to extreme thirst. The man thought to himself, ‘This dog is as extremely thirsty as I was.’ So he descended into the well, filled up his leather sock with water, and holding it in his teeth, climbed up and quenched the thirst of the dog. Allah appreciated his action and forgave his sins.’ The Companions asked, ‘Shall we be rewarded for showing kindness to animals also?’ He said: ‘A reward is given in connection with every living creature.’ [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

· Jaabir reported that the Messenger of Allah, , said: “If a Muslim plants a tree or sows a field and men, beasts and birds eat from it, all of it is charity from him.” [Muslim]

How Prophet Muhammad Treated Animals – I