3 Best Examples Why Watching Animals Mating Is Halal
19/01/2019 Updated-09/03/2020
Watching animals mating has not been forbidden in the Quran and the authentic Sunnah. Islam is silent on this issue. There are plenty of examples of parents stopping their children from watching nature documentaries when a scene of two animals mating appears.
People try to force fit their puritanical beliefs on to their children. In this article let me explain by giving three examples why watching animals mating is not haram in Islam.
Example-1-Islam is silent on this issue and silence is a mercy from Allah (Swt)
In Islam for something to be forbidden there needs to be clear textual evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah prohibiting it. When it comes to looking at animals mating, there is no single direct evidence to prohibit it and that means Islam is silent on this topic. Silence is a mercy from Allah (swt) and this is proven from the below hadith.
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 and Al-Baihaqi)
This is one clear example why watching animals mating videos is not haram.
Example-2-There is evidence from The Hadith Mentioning of Mating Animals
There is ample evidence from hadiths to prove that the prophet (sal) and his companions mentioning mating of animals.
Qays ibn 'Asim as-Sa'idi said,
"I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said, 'This is the master of the people of the desert.' I said, 'Messenger of Allah, how much property can I have without owning anything to someone who comes with a request or a guest?' The Messenger of Allah, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The best property is forty. A lot of property is sixty. Woe to those who have hundreds except for he who gives away something precious, lends an animal with abundant milk or sacrifices a fat animal to eat and feeds beggars and the poor.' I asked, 'Messenger of Allah, which is the noblest of these qualities?' The valley where I am does not support many flocks.' The Prophet replied, 'so what do you give as a gift?' I replied, 'I give virgin camels and she-camels.' The Prophet asked, 'How much do you give as a loan?' I said, 'I lend a hundred.' He asked, 'What do you do with she-camels that are ready to be mated?' He replied, 'People bring their ropes (to use as halters for the male camels) and no man is prevented from taking a camel on which he puts a halter. He takes the male camel he thinks is the proper one (for mating and keeps it) until he returns it.' The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Which do you love more? Your property or your mawali (i.e. your heirs).' ('My property,' he replied.) The Prophet said, 'Your share is what you eat of your property and consume or what you give away and spend. The rest of it belongs to your heirs.' I said, 'When I go back, I must lessen it.”
(Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 953-Graded Hasan Sahih by Sheikh Albani)
If looking at animals mating was haram then the prophet (sal) would have prohibited the sahabi when he mentioned about his plans to make the she camel mate.
Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari reported Allah's Messenger (sal) as saying:
“The owner of a camel who does not pay what is due on it (would be punished in this way) that on the Day of Resurrection many more (along with his camel) would come and the owner would be made to sit on a soft sandy ground and they would trample him with their feet and hooves. And no owner of the cattle who does not pay what is due on them (would be spared the punishment) but on the Day of Resurrection, many more would come and he (the owner) would be made to sit on the soft sandy ground and would be gored by their horns and trampled under their feet. And no owner of the goats and sheep who does not pay what is due on them (would be spared of punishment) but many more would come on the Day of Resurrection and he (the owner) would be made to sit on a soft sandy ground and they would gore him with their horns and trample him under their hooves. And there would be more (among this flock of sheep and goat) without horns or with broken horns. And no owner of the treasure who does not pay its due but his treasure would come on the Day of Resurrection like a bald snake and would pursue him with its mouth open, and when it would come near he would run away from it, and he would be called thus:" Take your treasure which you concealed, for I do not need it." When he would find no way out he would put his hand in its mouth and it would gnaw it like a she-camel. Abu Zubair said: We heard Ubaid b. Umair saying this. We then asked Jabir b. 'Abdullah about this. And he also said like Ubaid b. Umair, Abu Zubair said: I heard 'Ubaid b. 'Umair saying: A man said: Messenger of Allah, what is due on camels? He said: Milking them near water, and lending of bucket (used for drawing water from it), or lending its male for mating with a she-camel and providing it as a ride for the sake of Allah.”
(Sahih Muslim)
In this hadith a sahabi mentioned his plans to make the camel mate and if watching animals mating was haram then the prophet (sal) would have forbidden it.
Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:
“The Messenger of Allah (sal) was present with a she-mule which he rode, so Ali said: “Why do we not mate horses with donkeys?” The Messenger of Allah (sal) said: Only those who do not know do that”
(Abu Dawud-Graded Sahih by Albani)
In this hadith too Ali (rali) wanted to make the horses and donkeys mate and if watching animals mating was haram then the prophet (sal) would have forbidden Ali (rali).
There is also evidence from the Tabioon who are the second best generation after the companions of the prophet (sal) watching two monkeys having sex. The evidence is as follows.
Eesa Bin Hattan narrated from ‘Amr Bin Maimun that he said:
A male monkey came with a female and laid his head on her hand. Then a smaller monkey came and beckoned towards her, so she gently slipped her hand out from under the cheek of the first monkey and followed him. He mated with her while I looked on. Then she returned and gently tried to slip her hand back under the cheek of the first monkey, but he woke up suddenly, smelled her, and cried out. Then the monkeys gathered round and he began screaming while pointing towards her with his hand. The monkeys went all about and came back with that monkey that I recognized. They dug a pit for the two of them and stoned them both. So I had witnessed stoning being carried out by other than Adam’s descendants. ”
(Narrated in Sahih al Bukhari.Tahthib Al-Tahthib (8/11), Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar in [Fath Al-Bari 7/160 commented on the hadith of Bukhari with the above longer narration).
From the above story we can understand that Amr bin Maimun who was among the Tabioon narrated this incidence of him looking at two monkeys mating which happened during the pre-Islamic period. None of the Salaf were against it. Although this story is absurd and unacceptable because adultery can only be attributed to humans, what is important here is that Amr bin Maimun watched animal sex between two monkeys and from this we can understand that the Salaf-us-saliheen were comfortable in watching animals mating. From these evidences it is very clear that you can watch animals mate and even masturbate to it so that you can satisfy yourself because all of these acts are halal in Islam. Some might try to argue that watching animals mating is not allowed because Allah (Swt) says in the Quran that men and women should lower their gaze as mentioned in Surah-24, verse-30. Such statements come from ignorant people who have little or no knowledge in Islamic jurisprudence. Verse-30 in Surah 24 has nothing to do with watching animals mating and cherry picking verses to suite one’s own opinion won't prove anything. A Muslim who fears zina can make use of watching animals mating to satisfy his/her urge by masturbating and there are many more benefits in looking at animals mating such as for education and learning.
Example-3- Image making And Animals Mating Are Two Things Not One
Some are of the view that looking at animals mating on video or image is haram because picture making is haram. This argument is ludicrous and unacceptable. The argument of making photography is based on the hadiths prohibiting of making images of living souls. The prophet (sal) said:
"Those who will be most severely punished by Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers."
(Sahih Al Bukhari)
The prophet (sal) said:
'Who does more wrong than the one who tries to create something like my creation? Let him create a grain of wheat or a kernel of corn.'"
(Sahih Al Bukhari)
Ali (Rali) said:
"Shall I not send you on the same mission as the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent me? Do not leave any built-up tomb without levelling it, and do not leave any picture in any house without erasing it."
(Sahih Muslim and Nasai)
Ibn Abbas (Rali) Narrated that the prophet (sal) said:
"Every image-maker will be in the Fire and for every image that he made a soul will be created for him, which will be punished in the Fire." Ibn 'Abbas said: "If you must do that, make pictures of trees and other inanimate objects."
(Sahih Muslim)
None of the above hadiths has anything to do with watching animals mating. The argument that video or photography is haram is taken from the fatwa of Sheikh Naseeruddin al Albani (Rahee) Sheikh Albani defended his stance that photography and video making is haram by saying
"Those who say that photography is permitted have “frozen” the meaning of the word “tasweer,” restricting it only to the meaning known at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and not adding the meaning of photography, which is “tasweer” or “picture-making” in every sense – linguistic, legal, and in its harmful effects, and as is clear from the definition mentioned above. Years ago, I said to one of them, By the same token, you could allow idols which have not been carved but have been made by pressing a button on some machine that turns out idols by the dozen. What do you say to that?”
(Aadaab al-Zafaaf by al-Albani, p. 38)
Sheikh Albani’s fatwa is a wrong fatwa. The word tasweer that was explained and forbidden in the hadiths are hand drawn images and reflections do not come under this. Linguistically speaking, there was no word in Arabic to describe photography when it was invented by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in the 1920's so the same word used for a drawn image was given to the photograph as soora.
The word for the caravan in the Quran is "SayYaara"(سَيَّارَةٌ). Now in modern day colloquial Arabic the word "SayYaara"(سَيَّارَةٌ) refers to a car. Allah says in the Quran:
"وَجَاءَتْ سَيَّارَةٌ فَأَرْسَلُواْ وَارِدَهُمْ فَأَدْلَى دَلْوَهُ قَالَ"
"And there came a caravan of travellers and they sent their water-drawer"
(Al- Quran-12:19)
In the above verse, the word "SayYaara"(سَيَّارَةٌ) means a caravan but in modern colloquial Arabic it means "Qafila"(قافلة). Now, imagine if someone argues that the word "SayYaara" in the Quran also refers to the modern day Mercedes Benz will that argument hold water:? No because that would be foolish and it will change the real meaning in the Quran.
The push button example given by Sheikh Naseeruddin al Albani is similar to allowing a robot or a group of people drawing an image under your supervision which is haram. The push button example has to do with making an image and has nothing to do with a reflection. I therefore counter argue by saying if you push a button in a machine that only does reflect images similar to a mirror and produce an image then how can it be haram even if you had or not had physically got involved? Then someone could again counter argue by saying that the image in the mirror is not static It moves. My answer to that is, if you keep a mirror on the opposite side of a dead corpse, then what will you call it a handmade drawing or a reflection? Or if there is a mirror opposite a patient who is in coma and is not moving and the mirror is reflecting his entire body and if you seem to be near this patient how are you going to view this image in the mirror? Are you going to throw away the mirror because it is reflecting the patient's body in a static way? A camera in other ways is an advanced form of a mirror which has many features with buttons. The above explanation clearly proves beyond doubt that photography and making videos of animate beings is allowed in Islam. I have explained this in a detailed article where you can read by clicking here https://cjislam.weebly.com/taking-selfie-or-photo-or-video-is-not-haram.html
Conclusion
I hope it is clear by now for the reader that watching animals mating is not haram. The answer to "Is it haram to watch animals mate? is simple and that is, Islam has never forbidden such a thing and that its clear evidence that it is not haram. Muslims should not go in to extremes in forbidding themselves and their children from watching such harmless acts. Looking at animals mating in the wild or watching documentaries of such behaviour is a good way to learn about the behaviour of various animals. Learning about the sexual reproduction of animals will inshaAllah sharpen the intellect of a person whether he is an adult or a child and trying to bring in the age old “fitnah” argument is nothing but foolish argument.