Is it lawful to eat the meat of dogs and cats?
Salaam brother, I have some questions
1- Quran says eat what is legal. So how do we know what is legal and what is not?
It is very simple, all foods are lawful except what is prohibited in the Quran.
So do u think we Muslims should cook meat of dogs and cats in our kitchens? Example: If I cook meat of dog and cat and I invite youto dinner. Will u eat with me the meat of dog and cat which was slaugtered saying Allah hu Akabar, in same way as we slaughter cow and goat?
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My dear brother, you must try to free yourself from the cultural and traditional background to be able to see things clearly ....
Let me just tell you few interesting facts:
- in south east asia, they eat the meat of dogs and the brains of monkeys
- in france they eat frog"s legs
- In Arabia they eat the eyes of sheep
- in some rain forests there are pigmi tribes who eat the big hairy tarantula spiders
Naturally, in the culture you come from, and also my culture, we dont eat any of these animals, but does that make it unlawful to eat them? the answer is no, it is all a matter of culture and what a person is used to.
So if you invite me to dinner and ask me to eat a cooked dog, monkey or spider I would not enjoy it very much and I would not want to eat it .... but this is NOT because these animals are prohibited by God ... they are NOT prohibited, but I would not want to, because I am not brought up in a culture that accepts such meat as food.
Some people say : how can you eat a dog or a cat when these animals are kept as pets ?
Well, in many countries of the world rabbits are kept as pets, but many countries eat rabbit ... and they dont see anything wrong in doing so, even if they keep them as pets. So what preference is there for a dog over a rabbit? Does a dog have more rights to live than a rabbit?
Ultimately, we return to the ONLY issue that matters, the only animal whose meat is prohibited by God is the pig ... anything else is not prohibited .... if you were born in any of these cultures, you would be eating these animals and not finding any reason to think that you are doing anything wrong.
I hope this issue is now clearer.
2- Did Prophet Muhammad and 4 caliphs eat dogs and cats as per history record?
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Nothing in historical records indicate that they did .... but that does not mean that these animals are prohibited.
I am sure that prophet Muhammad did not eat frogs, lizards or spiders either, but equally we cannot say that since he did not eat them then they are prohibited!!!
May I remind you once again that the prohibitions of our religion come from the Quran and NOTHING else, it does not come from what the prophet did or what he did not do.
The Quran was revealed to the prophet and he was commanded by God in the Quran to follow the Quran and nothing else (
The prophet did NOT have the authority to prohibit anything that is made lawful by God (see 66:1). The prophet was not sent as a law maker, he was sent to deliver the Quran( 5:92) , God is the ONLY law maker (6:114).