Keeping a pet pig
Fatwa No: 122702

Question

Asalaamu Alaikum,
A sister is asking:
Is it permissible to own a pet pig?
We own a pet tea cup pig, we use her dropping for the garden and it really helps it grow. We dont pick her up and kiss and hug her, But she is a pet and we talk and play with her.
Jazak Allah khair.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

It is not permissible to keep a pig because it is an animal that is impure in itself, Allaah Says when mentioning the forbidden matters (what means): {…or the flesh of swine (pork, etc.) for that surely is impure.}[Quran 6:145] The view that the pig is impure in itself is a matter of consensus among the scholars . The fact that the pig is small or that it is a pet animal is not a sound reason for keeping it, so you should get rid of it by killing it. The Prophet said: "(I swear) By him in Whose Hands my soul is, the son of Mary (Jesus) will shortly descend amongst you people (Muslims) as a just ruler and will break the Cross and kill the pig and abolish the Jizyah (a tax taken from the non-Muslims who are in the protection of the Muslim government).”  [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

An-Nawawi said: ‘This narration is evidence for the chosen opinion of our School of jurisprudence which is the view of the majority of the scholars that if we find a pig in non-Muslim countries or any other country, and we are able to kill it, then we should kill it, and the view that it [the pig] should be left if it does not cause harm is rejected.’

Since you know that you are obliged to kill the pig, then there is no point in discussing the issue of (benefiting from) its droppings.

Allaah Knows best.

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