The attitude of the Prophet Muhammad SAW in Loving fellow Living Creatures

 

muslim creed In one of the stories that touches human morals as shown by the Prophet Muhammad SAW in his love for fellow creatures as well as for animals. The attitude of the Messenger of Allah towards Allah’s creation is not solely based on the horizontal relationship among Allah’s creatures, but is also based on the vertical relationship with the creator of the creatures. Once upon a time, the Prophet Muhammad once “saved” a dog who was breastfeeding her children. 

The story is, at that time the Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim army were on their way from Medina to Mecca during the Fathu Mecca mission (liberation of the City of Mecca). 

On the way, the Prophet Muhammad saw a female dog barking and nursing her children. Immediately, he ordered one of his friends to stand by the dog. The goal is that the Muslim soldiers do not disturb the nursing dog, and so that the dog does not bite the soldiers, so that each soldier and dog can continue their activities, without disturbing each other. 

Even because of his love for animals, he did not hesitate to rebuke his friends for being cruel, hurting, and not feeding their pets. As narrated in ancient Arabic history books, the ignorant Arabs often put rings around the camels’ necks, plucked their hairs, and cut their tails. In fact, not infrequently they take meat or certain parts of the animal’s body for cooking. 

The action takes place when the animal is alive and conscious. The Prophet also forbade bad behavior like wild animals that eat other animals alive. Prophet Muhammad SAW forbade people to burden animals too long and exceed the limits of their ability. 

The Prophet also asked not to put an identification mark on the animal on its face, but on the parts of the animal’s body that are not too soft. The noble character of the Prophet towards animals inspired his friends, cousins, and son-in-law, namely Ali bin Abi Talib. He advised people to be kind to animals, including transport animals. He advised, “Be kind to the beasts of transport; do not injure them and do not load them with a burden beyond their capacity.” The Prophet also forbade killing animals without a clear reason. 

He called for not to interfere with the rights and survival of animals. This can be seen when the Prophet asked his companions to return the newly hatched bird eggs. Apart from giving them a chance to live, the Prophet was of the view that taking the eggs could hurt their mother as much as separating the children from their mother’s affection. 

The attitude and behavior of the Prophet towards animals shows the role of humans as caliphs, that the human caliphate on earth is not only for the benefit of human life but also for nature, regulating and maintaining the rights of creatures such as animals and plants so that they are not persecuted by their action man.

Wallohu’alam.