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What is the ruling on dealing with a black cat that makes strange noises and does not leave the area, and how can it be gotten rid of because it frightens children?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Shaykh al-Islam stated that jinn can appear in the form of a black cat. If the cat frightens people and it is owned, its owner should be warned; otherwise, the matter should be referred to the authorities. If it is not owned, it should be removed from residential areas to a distant desert. If it cannot be dealt with except by killing it, then there is no harm in that. Some have gone so far as to say that it is obligatory to kill what causes fear, and Al-Nawawi's consensus on the desirability of killing harmful creatures has been reported.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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