it would have sufficed, and there would have been no blame.

The same ruling applies to birds kept in cages: if the owner places food and water before them, does not neglect them, and shields them from heat and cold, there is no harm. But if he neglects them and they die because of that negligence, he will be punished on their account—may Allah protect us—just as the woman was punished for the cat she confined. This shows that a person must be diligent in caring for the animals under his control, and that human beings are, by far, even more entitled to honor and kindness.

As for the second hadith: Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) once passed by some Qurayshite youths who had set up a bird as a target to see who could hit it most accurately. When they noticed ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, they scattered and fled. He asked, “What is this?” and when they told him, he said, “May Allah curse the one who does this! May Allah curse the one who does this!” He then related that the Prophet ﷺ had cursed anyone who takes a creature with a living soul as a target.

The reason is that the animal suffers: one arrow strikes its wing, another its chest, another its back, another its head—each blow causes it pain. For that reason the Prophet ﷺ cursed whoever uses a living being as a target.

Once the animal is dead, however, it feels nothing.

Similarly, in the next hadith the Prophet ﷺ forbade killing an animal by torment (ṣabr), meaning to confine it and then kill it. This is impermissible, for once the animal is captured one can slaughter it properly; shooting it instead both causes it needless pain and squanders its monetary value.

Allah alone grants success.

1604 – Abū Masʿūd al-Badrī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I was beating …”