Cats in Islam: What the Hadith Say About Cats

Walk into an old mosque in Istanbul, Cairo or Marrakesh and there is a good chance you'll find a cat asleep on the carpet. Cats have lived alongside Muslims for fourteen centuries, and they hold a special place in Muslim homes and hearts. Some of the reasons come from the Sunnah: the Prophet ﷺ said cats are clean, warned against cruelty to them, and one of his best-known Companions was named after a kitten.

This post gathers what the authentic hadith say about cats, and separates them from the popular stories that have no reliable source.

Every creature is a community

The Quran doesn't mention cats by name, but it speaks about animals in a way that shapes how Muslims treat them:

وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٖ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَا طَٰٓئِرٖ يَطِيرُ بِجَنَاحَيۡهِ إِلَّآ أُمَمٌ أَمۡثَالُكُمۚ مَّا فَرَّطۡنَا فِي ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ مِن شَيۡءٖۚ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمۡ يُحۡشَرُونَ

And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] communities like you. We have not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they will be gathered. (Al-An'am 6:38)

Animals are not just things to be used. They are communities of their own, known to Allah and gathered to Him. The hadith about cats build on this.

Cats are clean

The clearest teaching about cats is that they are not impure. Kabshah bint Ka'b, the daughter-in-law of the Companion Abū Qatādah, poured water for him to make wudu. A cat came to drink, and he tilted the vessel so it could drink. He saw her looking surprised and said the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had said:

"It is not impure. It is one of those who go around among you." (Sunan Abi Dawud 75; Jami' at-Tirmidhi 92; Sunan an-Nasa'i 68; Sunan Ibn Majah 367)

"Those who go around among you" describes animals that live in and around the house, coming and going all day. Because a cat is always close by, Islam doesn't treat it as something that soils food or water.

ʿĀʾishah reported the same saying. A cat ate from a dish of food that had been brought to her while she was praying, and when she finished, she ate from the very place the cat had eaten. She said she had seen the Prophet ﷺ make wudu with water a cat had drunk from (Sunan Abi Dawud 76). Most hadith scholars grade this report authentic, though some consider its chain weak; the meaning is the same as Abū Qatādah's report above.

From these hadith, scholars of all four schools hold that:

• Water a cat has drunk from can be used for wudu. The Hanafi school considers it disliked (makrūh) when other water is easily found, while the other schools see no harm in it.
• Food a cat has eaten from is not impure. It can still be eaten, though you are free to throw it away if you don't want it.
• A cat's fur and touch are clean. A cat brushing against your clothes, or sitting on your prayer mat, doesn't affect your prayer.

The woman and the cat

The hadith about cats that is most often quoted is a warning. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"A woman entered the Fire because of a cat she had tied up. She neither fed it nor let it free to eat the creatures of the earth." (Sahih al-Bukhari 3318; Sahih Muslim 2242)

In another narration she kept it locked up until it died of hunger (Sahih al-Bukhari 2365).

The lesson is serious. The woman didn't beat the cat; she simply kept it confined and neglected it. Taking an animal into your care makes you responsible for it. If you keep it, you feed it and give it water. If you can't, you let it go so it can look after itself.

The same teaching shows up from the other side in the story of the man who climbed down a well to fetch water in his shoe for a thirsty dog. Allah thanked him and forgave him for it. The Companions asked whether there was reward for serving animals, and the Prophet ﷺ answered: "There is a reward for serving any living being" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2466; Sahih Muslim 2244).

Put together, these two hadith show that cruelty to an animal can lead to the Fire, and kindness to one can earn forgiveness.

Abu Hurayrah, "the father of the kitten"

Abū Hurayrah narrated more hadith than any other Companion, and most Muslims know him only by his nickname. Hurayrah means "little cat" or "kitten", so his name means "the father of the kitten". When he was asked how he got it, he said:

"I used to tend my family's sheep, and I had a small kitten. At night I would put it in a tree, and during the day I would take it with me and play with it. So they called me Abū Hurayrah." (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3840)

The scholars of hadith grade this report hasan (good). His given name is usually said to have been ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣakhr, but it was the kitten that stuck.

Buying and selling cats

Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh was asked about the price of a dog and a cat, and he said the Prophet ﷺ disapproved of it (Sahih Muslim 1569; Sunan Abi Dawud 3479).

Scholars understand this hadith in different ways. Most of them hold that selling a cat is allowed, and read the hadith as discouraging it, since cats are easy to find and people should give them to each other freely. Others take it as a prohibition. If you are thinking of buying or selling a cat, it is worth asking a scholar you trust what your school says. Adopting a cat that needs a home avoids the question altogether.

Stories with no reliable source

Many stories about the Prophet ﷺ and cats are shared online and in books. Some of the best known have no authentic chain of narration:

• Muezza and the sleeve. The story says the Prophet ﷺ had a cat called Muezza, and that when it fell asleep on his sleeve he cut the sleeve off rather than wake it. It is lovely, but no hadith collection records it, and the name Muezza doesn't appear in the early sources.
• The "M" on a tabby's forehead. Some say the M-shaped marking on tabby cats comes from the Prophet ﷺ stroking a cat's head. This has no basis in the hadith.
• "Love of cats is part of faith." This is sometimes quoted as a hadith. Scholars of hadith have said it is fabricated.

None of this is needed. The authentic hadith already say that cats are clean, that cruelty to them is a serious sin, and that caring for them is rewarded.

Common questions

Can a Muslim keep a cat as a pet? Yes. Keeping a cat is allowed, as long as it is fed, given water and treated kindly.

Can I pray if a cat sat on my prayer mat? Yes. A cat is not impure, so its fur or touch doesn't affect your prayer. Only something that is impure in itself, such as its urine or vomit, would need to be washed off.

Do angels avoid a house with a cat? No. The hadith about angels not entering a house refer to dogs and pictures, not cats.

Is it allowed to neuter a cat? Scholars differ. Many contemporary scholars allow it when it is done for the animal's benefit, such as preventing illness or stopping more kittens being born into suffering. Ask a scholar you trust for guidance on your situation.

The Prophet ﷺ reminded us that there is reward in serving any living being. A bowl of water left out for a thirsty cat in the summer may weigh more on the scale than we expect.