Maqsud, The Cat, and Fajr prayer: Cats and Islam
By Maqsud Sobhani Ever since I moved back to Bangladesh, I am making a more conscious effort to not only get up for Fajr but also to pray at the Masjid. Dhaka, over the years, without any exaggerations, has transformed into a city of shops and stores; with departmental stores and malls that would put many in USA to shame. The part of the city where I reside, in particular, is all stores with large apartment complexes. From day till night the roads are filled with cars, buses, rickshaws, pedestrians, each trying to squeeze by the other. The street vendors, with their little shops, and pedestrians compete for space in the side walks. There is hardly, or rather any room to walk, with the crowd spilling well into the already busy streets. However, at the break of dawn the atmosphere is much different. It is still somewhat dark, little foggy, partly because of the winter and partly pollution. Just about everyone is still sleeping. You walk through the neighborhood street, with giant (unplanned) apartment buildings (some higher than 20 stories) on both sides, looking down on you like some giant king Kong, ready to crush you under his feet. Although the city streets now look treacherously empty, they are under the control of trucks, with their reckless driving and unnecessary blaring of horns. There is however still some tranquility, and a relative peace of mind. No wonder, the Prophet (PBUH) had placed so much importance on getting up for Fajr prayer. In the midst of all the craziness of this world, the “24 hour A Day” TV channels, shopping complexes and restaurants, it is still a time when most of the world is at sleep, giving oneself the time for self reflection and the “private space” that we so often crave. In one such fine morning, Dec 6th, 2004 to be specific, I got up in the morning and went to the Masjid to offer the Fajr prayer. It was an uneventful lazy walk. Couple of security guards and night-watch men here and there, and the newspaper hawkers (they distribute all the newspapers and magazines to homes and offices) starting to gather on the side walks with fresh newspaper and recycled news off the press. I went inside the Masjid, offered my Sunnah prayer and waited for the Imam to start the Fajr prayer. But we kept hearing the distant crying of a distressed kitten. The crying continued incessantly throughout the Fajr prayer. It was almost surreal; few of us quietly sitting or praying at the spacious Masjid, it’s still somewhat dark outside, there was this “Sakinah” tranquility probably only to be found during dawn of the day. Yet my mind was wandering at the sound of the crying kitten echoing throughout the walls of the Masjid. I have always been fond of cats. When we were young, that is my brother and I, we had cats as pet. When I lived in Texas, I somewhat “adopted” a little cat. Looking pale and starved, I gave it some milk one time and since then it became a regular guest to my apartment. Even when I was not at home, I would keep some milk for it in a bowl outside the door. Soon the cat started bringing his friends over for milk and snack! It continued on for months till I left Texas and by that time, the cat was almost full grown. I wondered if it looked for me, asking, what ever happened to the strange looking guy! About a year ago, my 2 nieces and one nephew started to press for a pet. Among the suggestions they made ranged from dog to cat to snake, and many things in between. Before the house turned into a zoo, we all compromised on a cat. Since then, the cat has become a member of their household. After the prayer was over, I thought I should try to locate the kitten, mostly out of curiosity. I did not know if the kitten belonged to anyone or if there were other cats involved. I found this tiny little cat, mostly white, with the head and tail being black, in a passage behind the wudu/purification area. The passage is very narrow, connecting several other buildings next to the Masjid. The kitten looked hungry and scared. I looked for its mother, but it was all alone. I thought I would pick it up little bit to comfort it but it ran away from me. So the chase began; after running around to catch it for few minutes, finally I was able to catch it. I picked it up and it almost fit in the palm of my hand. It was very dirty but I didn’t really care at that point because the kitten seemed to be content with being in the palm of my hand. Without thinking much, I decided to bring it at home not realizing fully the amount of responsibilities that comes with a pet. I feel like being a single parent these days, since I have to take care of it all by myself and I don’t have all the amenities that I had in USA for pet care. I also feel like a newly married since the cat and I, both having to readjust our life style, we are getting used to each other! We are little unsure of each other, yet we know that we will have a long life together. Alhamdulillah, the cat is healthy now and eating well, though I think it prefers when I feed him personally. I still do not have a name for it, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to email me with it. Enough about my unnamed cat! Typically, raising a cat like that is not a big deal in an average Bangladeshi family. They do not get the “high quality” care that pets get in USA for the obvious reasons. We have hard time taking care of humans, let alone animals. However, In the Islamic tradition, animals, and in particular cat holds a very special position. I personally believe that keeping a pet teaches valuable lessons about kindness, care and compassion, especially for the children. I want to share some of the narrations regarding animal and cat, and InshaAllah we will all benefit from it. I want to make sure that we all understand one thing; in Islam it is obligatory for us to show kindness to ALL animals. There are some profound hadith that testifies to that, and I want to share one such hadith here: Abu Hurayrah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "While a man was walking on his way he became extremely thirsty. He found a well; he went down into it to drink water. Upon leaving it, he saw a dog which was panting out of thirst. His tongue was lolling out and he was eating moist earth from extreme thirst. The man thought to him: `This dog is extremely thirsty as I was.' So he descended into the well, filled up his leather sock with water, and holding it in his teeth, climbed up and quenched the thirst of the dog. Allah appreciated his action and forgave his sins". The Companions asked: "Shall we be rewarded for showing kindness to the animals also?'' He (PBUH) said, "A reward is given in connection with every living creature". [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Another narration says: "A prostitute (mind it, a prostitute!) was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that." [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, #538] On the other side of the spectrum, there are some serious, jaw dropping, mind numbing, and hair raising hadith regarding the consequences of cruelty toward animals. Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "A woman entered Hell because she had tied up a cat, without giving it food or setting it free to eat the vermin of the earth." In another version, "A women is punished because she had tied up a cat till it died, she neither feed it, nor give it water in its confinement. Yet she further set it not free it to eat the vermin of the earth." [Note: Reported by Al-Bukhari and others on the authority of Ibn `Umar.] Everyone knows about Abu Hurayrah, the great companion of Prophet of Allah (upon whom be peace), the one transmitted more hadith than anyone else. There are so many other great stories about him, yet many probably are not aware of how he got his name. The first time Abu Hurayrah met Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), The prophet asked him: "What is your name?" "Abdu Shams - Servant of a Sun," replied Abu Hurayrah. "Instead, let it be Abdur-Rahman - the Servant of the Beneficent Lord," said the Prophet (PBUH). However, he continued to be known as Abu Hurayrah, his nickname, "the kitten man", literally "the father of a kitten" for he was fond of cats and since his childhood often had a cat to play with. There are so many other great stories/traditions about animals, birds and other living creatures; I have only shared few, with focus on cat. InshaAllah, we can discuss the other stories in future. Just one more thing, if there is so high reward for giving water to a dog, and so severe punishment for not giving food to a cat, then what does it mean for us, if we do the same to other humans? May be we can all contemplate about it little. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> It is better to give.... Especially when giving to a child in poverty. 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