Ruling on keeping a black cat

27-12-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it permissible for me to have and keep a black cat? There seems to be conflicting stories. Please give sincere advice, and thank you so very much. I have several cats.

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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 permissible to have cats and breed them on condition that you fulfill their rights, even if they are black in color. But it is better not to get black cats because Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned that the jinn may take the image of a black cat, like the case of a black dog, as he said, "The black dog is the devil of the dogs and the jinn take his image much, as well as the image of a black cat, because the black color gathers the satanic forces and it has the strength of heat."

For more benefit, please refer to fataawa 83888and 28663.

We recommend that you get preoccupied with what is more useful and beneficial to you than getting many cats and breeding them, such as seeking beneficial knowledge and calling people to Allaah and other beneficial deeds. If you have a surplus of money in keeping those many cats and spending on them, then you may spend this money in feeding the hungry Muslims, and there are so many of them.

Finally, it should be noted that what some people think is void, that seeing a black cat may bring misfortune; this is a false belief that must be abandoned by a Muslim. Indeed, a Muslim should fear Allaah and know that it is only Allaah Who brings benefit and repels harm. For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 91008.

Allaah knows best.