4 – The ḥadith shows that it is permissible to keep a tame animal—such as a cat—so that it may hunt and consume ground insects and vermin.

5 – By the same token, it is allowed to keep birds like parrots and the nughri (a small songbird) in cages, provided they are given food and water and are not harmed; their ownership is therefore lawful.

6 – The narration carries a stern warning for anyone who owns an animal yet confines it without food or drink until it dies or suffers from hunger and thirst. Such conduct is a cause for entering the Fire and counts among the major sins.

7 – It likewise permits keeping a cat—or similar animals—inside the home to rid it of cockroaches, mice, and other pests.

8 – If this severe threat applies to mistreating mere animals, how grave must the sin be when the victim is a protected human being whom Allah has placed under one’s care: a wife, a child, a servant, and the like?

9 – Al-Rawḍ states: “The owner of livestock must feed and water them and provide whatever benefits them, and he must not burden them with what they cannot bear. If he cannot afford their upkeep, he is compelled to sell them, rent them out, or slaughter them if their meat is edible, for leaving them in his possession without providing for them is an act of injustice toward them.” Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm said: “The scholars have explicitly ruled that the owner of an animal is obliged to feed it even if it becomes disabled; should he be unable to do so, he must sell it, rent it out, or slaughter it if its meat is lawful to eat. It is not permissible to kill the animal merely to ‘spare’ it the pain of illness or the like.”