1170 – Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade killing any of the beasts of burden by holding it in captivity until it dies.” Reported by Muslim. (1)

• Vocabulary of the ḥadith
– al-dawābb: plural of dābbah—literally every creature that moves on the earth, though the term is most often used for rideable animals, male and female alike.
– ṣabran: with an open ṣād and a silent bāʾ. Al-Nihāyah explains: “The Prophet forbade killing animals ṣabran—that is, seizing a living creature endowed with a soul and then pelting it until it dies.”

• Points derived from the ḥadith
The import of this narration has already been discussed under ḥadith no. 1167.

The ḥadith prohibits al-ṣabr of beasts—and, by extension, of every living being—that is, confining the animal and killing it without a legitimate purpose and without seeking any benefit from its death.

It likewise forbids destroying the animal through an unlawful method of killing, such as turning it into a target for shooting practice.

Such actions inflict torture upon the animal, destroy its life, squander its monetary value, negate the possibility of a lawful slaughter, and contribute—however gradually—to its disappearance from existence.

Because of these harms, and the absence of any benefit in killing it, the practice of al-ṣabr is forbidden; a prohibition denotes impermissibility.