Cats in Islam

[raisa]

Assalamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

Dear Imam saheb,

I would like to know more about the view on cats in Islam. Is it true that the Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam loved cats and had a cat called Muezza? Could you provide me more hadith on cats, on how the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam treated cats.

Could you also tell me if the following piece I have read in an article on cats is true:

According to one folktale, a snake came one day to the Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam to ask him a favor, but instead of thanking him it curled itself around his waist and was on the point of biting him when a friend of his passed by. This pious man was called Abu Hurayra, Father of the kitten,as he always carried his cat with him in a bag. Seeing the beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam endangered, he opened his bag and let the cat out. She immediately attacked the snake and killed it, thus rescuing the
Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam from his enemy. Gratefully the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam stroked her back, which is why cats never fall on their backs; and he touched her head, and so every cat has four little stripes on her forehead marks of the Prophet's fingers.

Thank you very much in advance!

Allah hafiz.

[Imam]

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu


All Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam

It's true about cats in Islam, that there was a Companion of the Beloved Messenger Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam who had an admiration for cats, thus being called Abu Hurayrah Radi Allahu anhu, but you must remember that not all folktale is part of the truth, therefore it being inauthentic.

The autheticity lies in revelation, which comes from the Beloveds Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam mouth, as it is stated in the Qur'an:

'wa ma yanitiku anil hawa in huwa illa wahyuy yuha'

'and we do not speak from our own desire, except what is revealed to you'.

(Qur'an: surah an Najm).




Jazak'allah for your question.





Wallahu A'lamu Biththawaab


M. Waseem Ashrafi