The cat is considered "the quintessential pet" by Muslims, [1] and is admired for its cleanliness, and was a beloved animal to Muhammad. [2] Unlike many other animals, such as dogs, Islamic Law considers cats ritually pure and possess baraka (blissful energy), [3] and allows cats to freely enter homes and even mosques. Although cats are ritually pure, their flesh is forbidden. [3] Cats are believed to be the most common pet in Muslim countries. [1]
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. [1]
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 were even fed. [4] [ page needed ] 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.
In Islamic tradition, cats are admired for their cleanliness. They are considered to be ritually clean, and are thus allowed to enter homes [1] and even mosques, including Masjid al-Haram. Food sampled by cats is considered halal, in the sense that their consumption of the food does not make it impermissible for Muslims to eat, and water from which cats have drunk is permitted for wudu (the ablution that is done by Muslims). [1] Furthermore, there is a belief among some Muslims that cats seek out people who are praying. [5]
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". [6] Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen, a 20th-century Saudi Arabian Wahhabi 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. [6]
Many Muslims believe that Muezza (or Muʿizza; Arabic : معزة) was Muhammad's favourite cat, [2] [7] however, there is no mention of any such cat in the hadith or supplementary works, [8] which leads many Muslims to argue that this cat may not have existed. [9]
Whether Muezza existed or not, Muhammad is known to have criticized abusers of cats. [10] By one account, Muhammad awoke one day to the sounds of the adhan . Preparing to attend prayer, he began to dress himself; 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. There is a similar story attributed to Sheikh al-Arif Ahmad al-Rifa’i (died 1182/1183) according to Al-Dhahabi, although the cat has no name in this account. [9]
Hadith or Athar is a form of Islamic oral tradition containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the prophet Muhammad. Each hadith is associated with a chain of narrators. Compilations of hadith were collected by Islamic scholars in the centuries after Muhammad's death. Hadith are widely respected in mainstream Muslim thought and are central to Islamic Law.
In Islam, sunnah, also spelled sunna, are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw and followed and passed on to the next generations. According to classical Islamic theories, the sunnah are documented by hadith, and alongside the Quran are the divine revelation (wahy) delivered through Muhammad that make up the primary sources of Islamic law and belief/theology. Differing from Sunni classical Islamic theories are those of Shia Muslims, who hold that Imams interpret the sunnah, and Sufi who hold that Muhammad transmitted the values of sunnah "through a series of Sufi teachers".
Islamic dietary laws are laws that Muslims follow in their diet. Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are halal and which are haram. The dietary laws are found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as well as in collections of traditions attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi, often referred to as Imām at-Termezī/Tirmidhī, was an Islamic scholar, and collector of hadith from Termez. He wrote al-Jami` as-Sahih, one of the six canonical hadith compilations in Sunni Islam. He also wrote Shama'il Muhammadiyah, a compilation of hadiths concerning the person and character of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. At-Tirmidhi was also well versed in Arabic grammar, favoring the school of Kufa over Basra due to the former's preservation of Arabic poetry as a primary source.
The Quba Mosque is a mosque located in Medina, in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia, built in the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 7th century C.E. It is thought to be the first mosque in the world, built on the first day of Muhammad's emigration to Medina. Its first stone is said to have been laid by the prophet, and the structure completed by his companions.
The Farewell Sermon also known as Muhammad's Final Sermon or the Last Sermon, is a religious speech, delivered by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on Friday the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, 10 AH in the Uranah valley of Mount Arafat, during the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj. Muhammad al-Bukhari refers to the sermon and quotes part of it in his Sahih al-Bukhari. Part of it is also present in Sahih Muslim and Sunan Abu Dawood. Verse 5:3, "Today I have perfected for you your religion," is believed to have been recited during the address as the capstone verse of the Quran. Various versions of the sermon have been published, including several English translations. The sermon consists of a series of general exhortations for Muslims to follow the teachings that Muhammad had set forth in the Quran and Ahl al-Bayt.
The Israʾ and Miʿraj are the two parts of a Night Journey that Muslims believe the Islamic prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year AD 621. Within Islam, the majority of scholars agree that the journey was both a physical and spiritual one in spite of the physics required for such a journey making it essentially impossible. A brief mention of the story is found in the 17th surah (chapter) of the Quran, called al-Isra', while details of the story are found in the hadith.
Witr is an Islamic prayer (salat) that is performed at night after Isha or before fajr. Witr has an odd number of raka'at prayed in pairs, with the final raka'ah prayed separately.
The hadith of the thaqalayn refers to a statement, attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, that introduces the Quran, the principal religious text in Islam, and his progeny as the only two sources of divine guidance after his death. Widely reported by both Shia and Sunni authorities, the hadith of the thaqalayn is of particular significance in Twelver Shia, where their Twelve Imams are viewed as the spiritual and political successors of Muhammad.
Purity is an essential aspect of Islam. It is the opposite of najāsa, the state of being ritually impure. It is achieved by first removing physical impurities from the body, and then removing ritual impurity through wudu (usually) or ghusl.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which the Quran is believed to be revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai was a leader of the Arab tribe of Tayy, and one of the companions of Muhammad. He was the son of the poet Hatim al-Tai. Adi remained antagonistic to Islam for about twenty years until he converted to Islam in 630.
In Islam, Muḥammad is venerated as the Seal of the Prophets and earthly manifestation of primordial divine light (Nūr), who transmitted the eternal word of God (Qur'ān) from the angel Gabriel (Jabrāʾīl) to humans and jinn. Muslims believe that the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, was revealed to Muhammad by God, and that Muhammad was sent to guide people to Islam, which is believed not to be a separate religion, but the unaltered original faith of mankind (fiṭrah), and believed to have been shared by previous prophets including Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The religious, social, and political tenets that Muhammad established with the Quran became the foundation of Islam and the Muslim world.
The ban on Hadith is a historical tradition, which says that Umar, the second Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ordered a ban on the writing down of oral traditions about the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, who died in 632 CE. Although the tradition is prominently quoted and referred to, it was not given any formal name, in contrast to other Hadiths such as the Hadith of the pond of Khumm or the Hadith of Qur'an and Sunnah.
According to Islam, animals are conscious of God. According to the Quran, they praise Him, even if this praise is not expressed in human language. Baiting animals for entertainment or gambling is prohibited. It is forbidden to kill any animal except for food or to prevent it from harming people.
Miracles of Muhammad are miraculous happenings attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Ishmael is regarded as a prophet and the ancestor to the Ishmaelites in Islam. He is the son of Ibrahim, born to Hajar. Ismail is also associated with Mecca and the construction of the Kaaba. Ismail is considered the ancestor to Muhammad.
Hadith of Jesus Praying Behind Mahdi refers to a collection of hadith (sayings of Muhammad related to the prophecy that after Jesus descends and joins the Mahdi and his followers in the final days before the destruction of Earth, Jesus will decline the offer of the Mahdi to lead the Mahdi and company in salat telling the Mahdi to lead. The Mahdi is an Islamic figure in Islamic eschatology, and salat is the Islamic practice of worship of God. The prophecy is narrated in numerous hadith collections. A total of 29 Hadiths relate the return of Jesus, and his prayer with Mahdi's lead.
Quranism is an Islamic movement that holds the belief that the Quran is the only valid source of religious belief, guidance, and law in Islam. Quranists believe that the Quran is clear, complete, and that it can be fully understood without recourse to the hadith and sunnah. Therefore, they use the Quran itself to interpret the Quran, an exegetical principle known as tafsir al-Qur'an bi al-Qur'an.
Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl was a monotheist who lived in Mecca shortly before Islam.
In still another charming legend about the Prophet, one day his favorite cat Muezza bowed to thank him for some kind favor and, by this story, Muhammad then passed his hand down three times the length of the animal's back, giving to it—and to all cats evermore—the enviable capacity always to land squarely on their feet.
Stories of cats who seek out persons who are praying, and of cats sensitive to the presence of grace, are common.
عُذِّبَتِ امْرَأَةٌ في هِرَّةٍ سَجَنَتْها حتَّى ماتَتْ، فَدَخَلَتْ فيها النَّارَ، لا هي أطْعَمَتْها ولا سَقَتْها، إذْ حَبَسَتْها، ولا هي تَرَكَتْها تَأْكُلُ مِن خَشاشِ الأرْضِ