KANGAR: Muslims are advised not to rear cats if this creates problems in the family and with their neighbours.
Perlis Mufti associate professor Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said it was worse when people claimed that Prophet Muhammad had said Muslims should rear cats.
“There is no hadis which mentions Prophet Muhammad as telling Muslims to keep cats, but he said they should not be tortured or harmed,” he said.
Asri was replying to a question from a member of the audience at his weekly class at Masjid Alwi, here, yesterday night who said he could not stand the stench of his neighbour’s cat’s faeces.
He said people who reared cats should not inconvenience their neighbours who had to deal with faeces left in their homes.
He said, in such instances, it would not be sinful for a neighbour to catch a cat which had defecated in his compound and throw the animal away.
He added that there had been instances where men did not want go home because their wives kept cats, as the house smelt bad due to cat poop and urine.
Similarly, he said, there were also cases where children went out of their homes as their parents were rearing too many cats.
He said the parents had claimed that Prophet Muhammad said they should do so to go to heaven.
Asri reminded cat lovers not to let their love for the felines affect family harmony and their relationship with their neighbours.-Bernama