Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu Alaikum

I have a doubt....In our place, I have heard people saying that killing a lizard is a good deed and one may get the reward of building a mosque if one kills a lizard, because prophet has asked us to do so and there are hadiths in support of that..they say that it is because once when prophet muhammed (SAW) tried to hide in a cave while migrating to madinah, the lizard made sounds to show the Quraishis that prophet was hiding there.. Is this true? Can we kill a lizard because one lizard 1400 years ago had done something wrong (with the influence of shaithan (laanatullahi alaihi) maybe)???

Please help me in this matter...

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Answer:

Killing a lizard

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Firstly brother, animals do not have a sense of right and wrong, nor are they bestowed (like the Humans and Jinns) with a free will…..thus to assume or believe that an animal (a lizard in this instance) knew what was going on in the society, and deliberately made sounds to show the enemy Quraish the whereabouts of the Prophet (saws) and Hadrat Abu Bakr (r.a.) who were hiding in the cave is absolutely illogical and devoid of any truth whatsoever!

Allah Says in the Glorious Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 164:

Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your goal in the end is toward Allah: He will tell you the Truth of the things wherein ye disputed.

Secondly brother, even for human beings, the Divine Law is that every individual draws the meed of its acts on none but itself, and that no bearer of burden can bear the burden of another…….thus if a person intentionally kills another person without right, Shariah Law and Islam have given the right to the righteous society to extract retribution only from the person who committed the evil. If one punishes or extracts retribution from the family or the children or the friends or the heirs of the one who committed the evil, they would be guilty of oppression and injustice in the Sight of the Lord Most High!

Although there is absolutely no reason to believe that the above quoted ‘incident’ of the lizard is true…..(only for argument’s sake) even if it were true, in light of the Divine Law, only that particular ‘lizard’ would and should be held guilty for its evil…..to assume, or believe, or say that all lizards are guilty and should be killed or punished for the supposed act of this one particular lizard would be absurd to say the least!!!

The Prophet (saws) said: "Kill the snake and the scorpion, (even) during the salah."

Related by Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.531 Narrated by Aisha

The Prophet (saws) said, "Five kinds of animals are mischief-doers, and can be killed even in the Sacred Mosque: They are the rat, the scorpion, the kite, the crow and the rabid dog."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) permitted the believers to kill the poisonous or harmful animals or insects or pests which are a threat to human beings, even if one is in the state of ‘salaah’ or in the Sacred House of Allah. Some lizards by nature are poisonous and a threat to human beings and their health, thus if one kills them when they pose a threat there is absolutely no harm.

Your Statement:…..In our place, I have heard people saying that killing a lizard is a good deed and one may get the reward of building a mosque if one kills a lizard,

Respected brother, the ‘people’ who claim that killing a lizard is a good deed, or that the reward of killing of a lizard is like building a House of Allah should be asked to provide the evidence for their declarations from the Glorious Quran or the authentic and established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws)…..if these people are unable to provide the evidence for their declarations, and we absolutely assure you that there is nothing in the Glorious Quran and the Sunnah which even remotely agrees with their claims, then the beleivers should know with absolute conviction that such declarations are the mere figments of their own self-invented imaginations and has absolutely no bearing to the Truth or to the Guidance of Islam!

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan