Answer
Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
There is nothing wrong in keeping animals as long as there is no prohibition on keeping them (as in the case of dogs and pigs).
Regarding your question, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and author, states:
There is nothing wrong in keeping animals as long as there is no prohibition on keeping them (as in the case of dogs and pigs).
It is reported that some of the Prophet’s Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) were in the habit of keeping animals for farming purposes or for fun and pleasure.
It is reported that Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) had a young brother who had a nughayr (a small bird or nightingale). The bird died and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) noticed that the young boy was so sad and grieved; so he joked with him and said to him, “O Abu `Umayr, what happened to the nughayr?“, which indicates his approval of keeping that bird. (Muslim)
In another hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is reported to have stated that a woman is doomed to enter Hell because of a cat “… which she neither fed nor let it eat from the vermin of the earth.” (ِِAl-Bukhari)
It is clear from the above hadith that if a woman had fed the cat, she would have been saved from Hell.
It was also narrated that Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) was called so because of a cat that used to accompany him.
Therefore, it becomes clear that keeping animals, so long as you do not neglect them, is permissible and may even be a way to earn rewards.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “In every living being there is a reward.” (Al-Bukhari)
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.