What does Islam say about kindness to animals?

The foundational principle

The command to do good is universal in scope, not limited to human beings. Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di, commenting on the hadith of Shaddad ibn Aws, explains that ihsan (excellence, doing good) has two branches: excellence in worshipping the Creator, and excellence in the rights of creation. The second branch, he says, includes kindness to all of humanity and kindness to animals — even at the moment their lives are taken.

"Indeed, Allah has prescribed excellence in all things. So when you kill, kill well; and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Let one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters."— Sahih Muslim 1955, from Shaddad ibn Aws

Al-Sa'di draws out the logic: if a person is commanded to be gentle even with a creature that is being slaughtered or an offender who is being executed, then how much more is he obliged to be gentle in every other circumstance? The command to sharpen the blade and give the animal rest is not a courtesy — it is part of the ihsan Allah has written upon every thing.

Giving water to a thirsty dog

The Prophet ﷺ told of a man who found a dog panting with thirst near a well. He went down, filled his shoe with water and gave the dog to drink, and Allah thanked him and forgave him. Another narration tells the same of a prostitute from the Children of Israel, who was forgiven for it.

When the Companions asked whether they would be rewarded for kindness to livestock, the Prophet ﷺ replied:

"In every moist liver there is a reward."— Sahih al-Bukhari 2363 and Sahih Muslim 2244, from Abu Hurayrah

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali cites this hadith in Jami' al-'Ulum wa al-Hikam under the heading of gentleness to animals, and al-Sa'di notes that the reward is not restricted to any particular species or act — it attaches to the relief of thirst and suffering itself. The lesson the scholars draw is that a small act of mercy toward a creature that can never repay it was enough to change a person's fate.

What is forbidden

The same principle that commands kindness forbids cruelty, and the scholars list specific prohibitions:

• Tormenting animals is forbidden outright. Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak, in his commentary on the hadith of Shaddad ibn Aws, states that the hadith is a foundational text for mercy to animals and that it establishes the prohibition of ta'dhib — torturing them.
• Killing an animal by confinement (sabr) — holding it restrained and shooting at it until it dies — is forbidden. Al-Barak lists this as the first ruling derived from the hadith.
• Starving or withholding food and water is forbidden. Al-Barak explicitly includes "starving it and confining it without food or drink" among the prohibited forms of torment.
• Using a living creature as a target is forbidden. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Do not take anything with a soul as a target" — cited by al-Barrak as corroboration for the same principle.
• Making animals into furniture is forbidden. In a narration from Sahl ibn Mu'adh, the Prophet ﷺ passed people standing over their riding animals and said: "Ride them soundly and leave them soundly, and do not take them as chairs for your conversations in the roads and marketplaces." He added that many a ridden animal is better than its rider, and remembers Allah more.

Al-Barak also notes that the command to slaughter well includes taking the practical steps that hasten the animal's release — sharpening the knife — and that the Prophet ﷺ's method of teaching was to state a universal rule and then give specific examples so it would be understood.

Gentleness as a way of life

The scholars do not treat kindness to animals as an isolated virtue but as one expression of rifq — gentleness — which the Prophet ﷺ made a general characteristic of the believer. Al-San'ani, in al-Tahbir, defines rifq as softness in speech and action and choosing the easier path, and notes that it is general in all things.

"Gentleness is not found in anything except that it beautifies it, and it is not removed from anything except that it disfigures it."— Sahih Muslim 2594, from 'A'ishah رضي الله عنها

And in another narration:

"Whoever is deprived of gentleness is deprived of all good."— Sahih Muslim, from Jarir ibn Abdullah

Al-San'ani records that when 'A'ishah رضي الله عنها was riding a difficult camel and kept pulling it back, the Prophet ﷺ told her: "You must be gentle." The same gentleness that governs dealings between people governs dealings with animals.

The scope of the obligation

Al-Sa'di divides ihsan into two levels. The obligatory level is to fulfil the rights owed to others and to deal justly — and the rights of animals fall here, since the Prophet ﷺ forbade their torment and commanded their proper treatment. The recommended level is to go beyond what is required: to give benefit, to remove harm, to bring ease. Every act of kindness is a charity, and every act that removes something disliked from a creature is ihsan.

The scholars also note that the reward varies with the sincerity of the giver and the need of the one helped — which is why giving water to a desperately thirsty animal carried such weight.

Key takeaways

• Kindness to animals is an obligation, not an optional virtue. The Prophet ﷺ said Allah prescribed excellence in all things, and the scholars apply this directly to how animals are treated.
• Tormenting, starving, confining without food or water, or using animals as targets is forbidden. These are named prohibitions, not merely discouraged acts.
• Even slaughter must be done with excellence — the blade sharpened and the animal given rest — which shows how far the command to gentleness extends.
• Reward follows mercy even to a creature that cannot thank you. A single act of giving water to a thirsty dog was enough to earn Allah's forgiveness.
• Gentleness is a general characteristic of the believer. The Prophet ﷺ made rifq a mark of faith in dealings with people and animals alike.

Further reading

• Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Jami' al-'Ulum wa al-Hikam — the chapter on gentleness to animals
• Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di, commentary on the hadith of Shaddad ibn Aws (Ihsan in Slaughter)
• Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak, Bab al-Sayd wa al-Dhaba'ih

And Allah knows best.