Islam and cats

Feral cat in the courtyard of Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The domestic cat is a revered animal in Islam.[1] Admired for its cleanliness as well as for being loved by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the cat is considered "the quintessential pet" by Muslims.[2]

Origins of reverence

Cats have been venerated in the Near East since antiquity, a tradition adopted by Islam, albeit in a much modified form.[3] According to many hadiths, Muhammad prohibited the persecution and killing of cats.[2]

Cat resting on a pillow next to an imam in Cairo, by John Frederick Lewis

One of Muhammad's companions was known as Abu Hurairah (literally: "Father of the Kitten") for his attachment to cats.[1] Abu Hurairah claimed that he had heard Muhammad declare that a woman went to Hell for starving a female kitten and not providing her with any water, but this was disputed by Muhammad's widow Aisha.[4] According to legend, Abu Hurairah's cat saved Muhammad from a snake.[2] In gratitude, Muhammad stroked the cat's back and forehead, thus blessing all cats with the righting reflex. The stripes some cats have on their foreheads are believed to mark the touch of Muhammad's fingers.[5]

History

The American poet and travel author Bayard Taylor (1825–1878) was astonished when he discovered a Syrian hospital where cats roamed freely. The institution, in which domestic felines were sheltered and nourished, was funded by a waqf, along with caretakers' wages, veterinary care and cat food. Edward William Lane (1801–1876), a British Orientalist who resided in Cairo, described a cat garden originally endowed by the 13th-century Egyptian sultan Baibars, whose European contemporaries held a very different attitude towards cats, eating them or killing them under papal decrees.[2] Wilfred Thesiger, in his book "The Marsh Arabs", notes that cats were allowed free entry to community buildings in villages in the Mesopotamian Marshes, and even fed, though dogs and other animals were driven out.[6] Aside from protecting granaries and food stores from pests, cats were valued by the paper-based Arab-Islamic cultures for preying on mice that destroyed books. For that reason, cats are often depicted in paintings alongside Islamic scholars and bibliophiles. The medieval Egyptian zoologist Al-Damiri (1344–1405) wrote that the first cat was created when God caused a lion to sneeze, after animals on Noah's Ark complained of mice.[2]

Hygiene and neutering

A cat on the doorstep of a mosque in Şirince, Turkey

In Islamic tradition, cats are admired for their cleanliness. They are thought to be ritually clean, unlike dogs, and are thus allowed to enter homes[2] and even mosques, including Masjid al-Haram. Food sampled by cats is considered halal and water from which cats have drunk is permitted for wudu.[2] Furthermore, there is a widespread belief among Muslims that cats seek out people who are praying.[1]

Muslim scholars are divided on the issue of neutering animals. Most, however, maintain that neutering cats is allowed "if there is some benefit in neutering the cat and if that will not cause its death".[7] Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen, a 20th-century Saudi Arabian Sunni imam, preached:

If there are too many cats and they are a nuisance, and if the operation will not harm them, then there is nothing wrong with it, because this is better than killing them after they have been created. But if the cats are ordinary cats and are not causing a nuisance, perhaps it is better to leave them alone to reproduce.[7]

A UK-based pet food company, Halal Pet Products Ltd, produces what they claim to be a completely halal cat food, which they named Muezza Pure.[8] The company justifies their development of the product by asserting that, while there are no laws in Islam prohibiting animals from eating haram foods, Muslims are forbidden to handle or feed haram foods, such as pork and carrion, to animals.[8]

Muezza

According to Islamic tradition, Muezza (or Muʿizza) (Arabic: معزة‎) was Muhammad's favorite cat.[9][10] In legend, Muhammad awoke one day to the sounds of the adhan. Preparing to attend prayer, he began to dress himself; however, he soon discovered his cat Muezza sleeping on the sleeve of his prayer robe. Rather than wake her, he used a pair of scissors to cut the sleeve off, leaving the cat undisturbed. Another story is, upon returning from the mosque, Muhammad received a bow from Muezza. He then smiled and gently stroked his beloved cat three times.[9][10]

While the folktale of Muezza is found in both Muslim[11][12] and non-Muslim sources and many hadith reference cats in a positive manner, it does not appear to be attested before the 20th century. It may be based on a similar story told by the followers of the medieval Sufi sheikh Ahmed ar-Rifa'i, who is also said to have cut his sleeve because a cat was sleeping on it, then stitched it up later and said "nothing changed".[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Glassé, Cyril (2003). The New Encyclopedia of Islam. Rowman Altamira. p. 102. ISBN 0759101906.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam. Infobase Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 1438126964.
  3. ↑ Baldick, Julian (2012). Mystical Islam: An Introduction to Sufism. I.B.Tauris. p. 155. ISBN 1780762313.
  4. ↑ Kurzman, Charles (1998). Liberal Islam: A Source Book. Oxford University Press. p. 121. ISBN 0195116224.
  5. ↑ Gulevich, Tanya (2005). Understanding Islam and Muslim traditions: an introduction to the religious practices, celebrations, festivals, observances, beliefs, folklore, customs, and calendar system of the world's Muslim communities, including an overview of Islamic history and geography. Omnigraphics. p. 232. ISBN 0780807049.
  6. ↑ Thesiger, Wilfried. The Marsh Arabs : Longman : London, 1964
  7. 1 2 Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman (2004). Islam: Questions and Answers—Jurisprudence and Islamic Rulings: General and Transactions, Part 1. MSA Publication Limited. pp. 323–325. ISBN 1861794118.
  8. 1 2 "Muezza launches World's first Halal cat food". Pet Product Marketing magazine. 23 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2016-02-02. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  9. 1 2 Geyer, Georgie Anne (2004). When Cats Reigned Like Kings: On the Trail of the Sacred Cats. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0-7407-4697-9.
  10. 1 2 Stall, Sam (2007). 100 Cats Who Changed Civilization: History's Most Influential Felines. Quirk Books. ISBN 978-1-59474-163-0.
  11. ↑ "The Sunnah and Blessings in Healing effects of Cats". Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "The Love and Importance of Cats in Islam". Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Al-Thahabi, Shamsuddin. "الرفاعي", Siyar A'lam Al-Nubala. Retrieved on 24 October 2014.
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