What is the ruling on my torturing a cat by beating it, pricking it with needles, and leaving it without food, and will I enter Hellfire because of that?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
Kindness to animals is legislated, and its doer will be rewarded. There is no sin in not feeding a cat if it is not imprisoned and prevented from searching for its food outside the house. However, if it is imprisoned and unable to search, it must be fed. Imprisoning it while it is hungry and not feeding it falls under the warning of punishment for the woman who imprisoned the cat. It is not permissible to punish an animal by beating or pricking it with needles; rather, it can be driven away and expelled, and one must seek forgiveness for such actions.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/110972
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 110972
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy