Is It Permissible To Buy And Sell Cats?
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question:
Is transaction involving living pets halal? Someone I know has kittens and wants to sell them when they get older. Is it okay for them to do that?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate
Walaikum assalam,
I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.
It is permissible to buy and sell animals, in general. [Ibn al-Humam/Marghinani, Fath al-Qadir Sharh al-Hidaya; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
This was something done during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). [ibid; Mawsuli, al-Ikhtiyar Sharh al-Mukhtar]
In doing so, one needs to be respectful of the laws of the land and any contracts (such as rental agreement with one’s landlord) that one has committed to. Allah Most High commands us, “O believers! Honor your obligations.” [Quran, 5.1]
Keeping Pets
It is also permissible to keep pets—including cats—as long as one gives the pets their rights. It is sunna to have excellence in care of animals. [Khadimi/Birgivi, al-Bariqa al-Mahmudiyya Sharh al-Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya]
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center
