Animals

Animals (also called Metazoa) are multicellular eukaryotic organisms that form the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total.

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Animals . Drawing

We have to draw animals like foxes and elephants for our biology practicals but I have heard that drawing of living objects is not allowed, is that true?

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 6 years ago

Bismillah,

Asalamu Alaykom,

You will find scholars who say it is allowed to draw and paint pictures of humans and animals. Some scholars also say it is makruh so you should check the ruling of the marja you follow.

With regards to sculptures of living things, some scholars such as Sayed Sistani & Sayed Sadiq Shirazi don’t allow it on obligatory precaution.

May Allah grant you success

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Animals . Mankind . Atheism

It is said that humans share about 98% of their DNA with chimpanzees. If this is true, does it not imply that we are hardly different from animals and just an advanced breed of monkeys? How can religion justify considering humans special in any way?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 6 years ago

The Islamic tradition does not say that human beings are fully different from animals. Like animals, human beings eat, drink, move around, sleep, mate, fight, grow up, and have social communities. Allah says of animals: "There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end." Animals have their own ways of praising Allah just as human beings have their own ways.

However, what makes human beings special or different is not their similarities with animals but rather their differences, especially the human soul. Allah speaks of breathing some aspect of the divine spirit into the human being. As a result, the human being has free will, a strong intellect and capacity for abstraction, can develop or devolve spiritually to very high or low levels, can rise higher than the angels, and can manifest a variety of the names of Allah. It is the human being that took on the risk/responsibility for these things, as mentioned in the Qur'an, whereas animals did not. Therefore there is a difference between the human being and other animals, even though there are also some similarities.

Otherwise one could also say that human beings are similar to piles of dirt, because all the elements that make up the human being come from the earth, and yet it is this quality of life and soul that make a human being different from a pile of elements.

How much this relates to DNA is an open question, but it is my own understanding that at least some of what distinguishes the human soul is not material in origin and does not come from DNA.

Animals . Mankind . Atheism

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 6 years ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. If we assume the facts of the question as true, the question presupposes that volume equals importance. If the 2% difference gives rise to very distinct and important differences then monkeys and humans are not the same, as is clear from the difference in the way monkeys and humans live in this world. Another assumption is that all that is involved in being human is contained in DNA, and not just a human's physical aspects, which is something that is not established.

May you always be successful

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Pet . Animals . Circumcision

Is there any recommendation or permissibility in Islam to circumcise any newborn pet animals that are in our care?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 6 years ago

No. We don't have anything like that.

Obviously, Islamic rules are for humans, not for animals.

Wassalam.

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Sacrifice . Animals . Eid al-Adha

How is it allowed by Allah to sacrifice animals on Eid al-'Adha? Isn't the essence of sacrifice to kill one's own ego and not some other living creature?

It is in fact a practice to kill our own ego through sacrificing animals which we own to feed the poor for the sake of Allah.

Wassalam.

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Animals . Angels . Jinn . Wolf

Is it true that some animals, such as wolves, can see Jinns and Angels?

It is mentioned in Sunni books like Bukhari Vol 11 : (Donkey sees Shaitan) but I did not find it in our authentic books.

Nevertheless, what difference does it make for us in our worldly and religious life whether it is true or not?

The world of Jinns is completely different world frm ours and we ae not allowed to seek any help from them as we read in Quran (And some men from humans were seeking refuge of the Jinn and the Jinns added on their hardships)(Al-Jinn ; 6).

About angles, we read in Quran ( Say: If there were on the earth, Angles walking in peace, We should certainly have sent on them from the sky an angel as a messenger ) Sura Al-Israa, 95.

Wassalam