Treatment of Animals in Islam

It is forbidden in Islam to treat an animal cruelly, or to kill it except for the need of food. There are several examples in Hadith where the Prophet Muhammad instructed Muslims to treat animals with kindness and mercy.

“A good deed done to an animal is like a good deed done to a human being,

while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as cruelty to a human being."

Allah Rewards You for Showing Mercy to Animals

Abu Umama relates that the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, "Whoever is merciful even to a sparrow, Allah will be merciful to him on the Day of Judgment."

Just because an animal is unable to voice out its opinion or suffering, it should not be treated with anything less than kindness. Animals cannot speak for themselves which is why it falls on our (human) shoulders to show them mercy and become their voice where we can.

Related from Sahl ibn Al-Handhaliyya: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH), once passed by a camel that was so emaciated that its back had almost reached its stomach. He said, "Fear Allah in these beasts who cannot speak." (Abu Dawud)

#MondayMotivation

National Animals of Pakistan

To celebrate the spirit of Independence we decided to bring to you information regarding the  gorgeous Markhor (goat) and the beautiful Chaor (bird) - the two amazing national animals of Pakistan.

Both Markhor and Chakor can be found in Pakistan's region and each has its own symbolic importance.

Chakor is the National Bird of Pakistan and considered a symbol of passionate but unreciprocated love in the sub continent. Most commonly kept as pets by Pathans due to the believe that a pair of Chakor partridges wards off the evil eye. This is one of the reasons traditionally Chakor is one of the birds which has special value in Pakistani truck art as well.



Chakor is a chunky 32-35 cm bird with an amazing color scheme of brown, grey, red, white and sandy color. Chakor belongs to the pheasant family Phasianidae and is native of the region of Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Turkey and the Kashmir range. Normally their territories are rocky open hillsides and can mainly be found at an altitude of 2000 to 4000m. However, in Pakistan they have also been seen at the mere range of 600m. They do not live in humid and rainy areas and like to eat a variety of seeds and insects as food.

Markhor is the National animal of Pakistan. The word "Markhor" is Persian for "Snake Eater". It is a large woodland goat found in the Western Himalaya range of Pakistan mostly in the Chitral, Ghizar and Hunza regions.



Markhor live in places 500 to 3500 metres (1,500 to 11,000 feet) high, where they live off grass and other vegetation. Found to be more active during the early morning and late afternoon, the female marhor can be found in herds while males Markhor are generally found alone.

Find more information regarding Makhor at WWF Pakistan

Happy Independence Day!

Animals Have Rights Too

We're Back in Action

With a delay of over a year and a half, OfAnimalLove is back in motion.

Lots of things have happened on the animal front in Karachi and Pakistan at large and I intend on covering it all up right here. We are also in the process of launching something that will hopefully help initiate a bigger campaign throughout the city.

For the next week or so I will be covering all the non-profit organizations that have sprouted around Karachi and in the country for helping stray animals. And these are doing a great job. I will be covering all this and much more. So stay tuned!

Until then, here are a few motivations for today #ThursdayMotivation #ThursdayThoughts