The Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has stated: “On the Day of Judgement, all the animals will be brought whereas people will be standing. Then a decision will be made between them, to the extent that a horned goat will be accountable to a goat without horns and an ant will be accountable to another ant. Then it will be said, “Turn into soil.” (Mawsu’ah Ibn Abid Dunya, Hadees 224, vol. 6, pp. 231)

Just ponder that on the Day of Judgement, an animal will be holding another animal accountable. So, if a human being had been cruel to an animal, had hit it, kept it hungry and thirsty, then how much entitled to punishment will they be? Those people who are cruel to animals and make them run for mere enjoyment, get them to stand up by messing about with them, take out their teeth in order to sell them, injure their mouth by pulling their reins continuously and injure animals by making them fight with one another should be scared because on the Day of Judgement, if they are held accountable and stopped from entering Heaven due to their cruelty, what would they do? Therefore, stop being cruel to animals yourself and if you see another person being cruel to animals, try to stop them by explaining to them about the punishment of the Hereafter. If our pious predecessors رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـه saw anyone being cruel to animals, they would stop them instantly.

Do not drag the leg of the animal who is to be slaughtered

Once, Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Hazrat Farooq-e-A’zam رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ saw a person who was dragging the leg of a goat in order to slaughter it. Sayyiduna Farooq-e-A’zam رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ said, “May you be put into difficulties. Take it towards its death in a good manner.” (Musannaf Abdur Razzaq, vol. 4, pp. 376, Hadees 8636)

Tying an animal and making it a target

Once, Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar رَضِیَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُمَا walked past some youngsters of Quraysh who had tied a bird and were making it a target by throwing arrows towards it. When they saw Abdullah bin Umar رَضِیَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُمَا coming towards them, they began to disperse. He asked, “Who has done this? May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ curse those who do these types of acts. Verily, the Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has cursed that person who plays archery by making a living thing the target.” (Muslim, pp. 1082, Hadees 1958)