What does Islamic tradition say about animal welfare?

Islamic teaching places clear ethical obligations on the treatment of animals, long before formal animal-welfare movements emerged. The Prophet Muhammad taught, 'Allah has prescribed excellence (ihsan) in all things. So when you kill, kill well, and when you slaughter, slaughter well; let each of you sharpen his blade and spare suffering to the animal he slaughters' (Sahih Muslim 1955), establishing that even lawful killing for food must minimize suffering. He also told of a man who gave water to a thirsty dog and was forgiven his sins for the act of mercy, teaching that 'there is reward in doing good to every living creature' (Sahih al-Bukhari 2466), and separately warned of a woman punished for confining a cat until it died of hunger. Early Islamic legal texts address the feeding, resting, and humane transport of working animals, and prohibit tormenting animals for sport or mutilating them while alive. These teachings collectively establish that animals have moral standing and that cruelty toward them is a sin, regardless of whether the animal is owned, wild, or destined for food.

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