Is Having a Pet Monkey Haram?
C.J Ahmed-07.06.2023
Having a pet monkey is not haram in Islam because there is no direct evidence from the Quran or the authentic hadiths forbidding keeping Monkeys as pets.
The prophet (sal) said:
“Verily Allah has obligated the obligations – so do not neglect them. And He has limited the limits – so do not transgress them. And His silence about things is from His mercy, not forgetfulness, so do not investigate them.”
(Hasan sahih-Ad-Darqutni No. 4/199 and Al-Baihaqi No. 10/122 a nd also graded Sahih by Sheikh Albani)
Did The Prophet (sal) Forbid the Price of a Animals Such as Cats and Dogs?
There is a view among some Muslims that selling cats and dogs is haram and the argument is based on the following hadiths,
Narrated Jabir:
“The Prophet (sal) forbade payment for cat”
(Abu-Dawud Graded Sahih by Albani)
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:
“The Prophet (sal) forbade payment for dog and cat.” (Abu Dawud-Graded Sahih by Albani)
It is not clear what was meant by the price of a cat or buying a cat and eating it.
Jabir said the Prophet forbade eating cats or what is paid for them. “This might be either what was paid in kind, or what was bought with money paid for them.” (Mishkat al-Masabih 4128)
Altough Sheikh Albani graded the above hadiths authentic, some scholars said that these hadith s are weak. Abu ‘Awaanah said:
“Regarding the reports which say that the sale of cats is not permissible, there is some doubt about their soundness and they are weak." (Al-Mustakhraj 12/336)
Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said: Regarding anything that it is permissible to keep and benefit from, and it is useful, in principle it is permissible to buy and sell it, unless there is something (that is, a report) to disallow that, which we must accept if there is no report to the contrary regarding that issue. There is no sound report regarding the sale of cats, so the matter remains permissible." (At-Tamheed 8/403)
Even for the sake of argument we agree that it is haram to buy or sell cats or dogs, still it is only makruh (disliked) because when we understand these hadiths, what the prophet (sal) meant was he disliked it. It is proven from the following authenic hadith,
Abu Zubair said:
“I asked Jabir about the price of a dog and a cat; he said: Allah's Messenger (sal) disapproved of that. (Sahih Muslim 1569)
There is nothing haram in keeping monkeys as pets.
Having a pet monkey is not haram in Islam because there is no direct evidence from the Quran or the authentic hadiths forbidding keeping Monkeys as pets.
The prophet (sal) said:
“Verily Allah has obligated the obligations – so do not neglect them. And He has limited the limits – so do not transgress them. And His silence about things is from His mercy, not forgetfulness, so do not investigate them.”
(Hasan sahih-Ad-Darqutni No. 4/199 and Al-Baihaqi No. 10/122 a nd also graded Sahih by Sheikh Albani)
Did The Prophet (sal) Forbid the Price of a Animals Such as Cats and Dogs?
There is a view among some Muslims that selling cats and dogs is haram and the argument is based on the following hadiths,
Narrated Jabir:
“The Prophet (sal) forbade payment for cat”
(Abu-Dawud Graded Sahih by Albani)
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:
“The Prophet (sal) forbade payment for dog and cat.” (Abu Dawud-Graded Sahih by Albani)
It is not clear what was meant by the price of a cat or buying a cat and eating it.
Jabir said the Prophet forbade eating cats or what is paid for them. “This might be either what was paid in kind, or what was bought with money paid for them.” (Mishkat al-Masabih 4128)
Altough Sheikh Albani graded the above hadiths authentic, some scholars said that these hadith s are weak. Abu ‘Awaanah said:
“Regarding the reports which say that the sale of cats is not permissible, there is some doubt about their soundness and they are weak." (Al-Mustakhraj 12/336)
Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said: Regarding anything that it is permissible to keep and benefit from, and it is useful, in principle it is permissible to buy and sell it, unless there is something (that is, a report) to disallow that, which we must accept if there is no report to the contrary regarding that issue. There is no sound report regarding the sale of cats, so the matter remains permissible." (At-Tamheed 8/403)
Even for the sake of argument we agree that it is haram to buy or sell cats or dogs, still it is only makruh (disliked) because when we understand these hadiths, what the prophet (sal) meant was he disliked it. It is proven from the following authenic hadith,
Abu Zubair said:
“I asked Jabir about the price of a dog and a cat; he said: Allah's Messenger (sal) disapproved of that. (Sahih Muslim 1569)
There is nothing haram in keeping monkeys as pets.