Can I Feed My Pets Bacon, and What About Handling or Distributing Pork in Other Contexts?
Question
Salam Imam Mahmoud. I was at a hotel with my two cats. During breakfast I noticed they were serving bacon. I considered taking some bacon slices to my room to feed my cats. Is it permissible to handle, obtain, and give bacon to my cats like that?
What about similar scenarios, like working for a homeless shelter helping pack and distribute meals that contain haram items?
Please advise.
Jazakallah khairun.
Answer
Alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulillah, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain.
This issue must be answered with precision. The prohibition of pork concerns Muslim consumption, while the question here is about feeding an animal and benefiting from a najis substance. The jurists discussed this under the topic of feeding animals najasah or mutanajjas items, and they differed.
1. The Shar‘i Context
Pork is prohibited for Muslims to eat, and it is considered najis.
Allah says:
“He has only forbidden to you carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah.”
Surat al Baqarah 2:173
This establishes the prohibition of eating pork. But the question is not eating. It is feeding an animal and handling it.
2. Scholarly Discussion on Feeding Animals Najasah
The classical jurists differed regarding feeding animals with najasah (such as carrion or impure fodder), and the text you provided reflects that.
The juristic conclusions can be summarized as follows:
- Maliki and Shafii jurists permitted feeding animals fodder that is najis or contaminated, including similar impure items, particularly when the animals are not bound by halal and haram in their feeding.
- Hanafi jurists were stricter regarding benefiting from najasah, and they considered many forms of benefiting from impure substances to be impermissible, including using them in ways like feeding animals.
- Hanbali jurists permitted feeding impure items to animals whose meat is not eaten, but they did not permit feeding it to animals whose meat is eaten, except under conditions related to preventing the animal from becoming jallalah before slaughter.
Cats are not eaten, and they are not slaughtered for consumption. This places your situation within the category that many scholars treated with permissibility.
3. Application to Feeding Bacon to Cats
Based on the juristic discussion:
- It is permissible according to the Malikis and Shafiis to feed a cat bacon or other impure meat.
- It is permissible according to the Hanbalis in the case of animals not eaten.
- The Hanafis are more cautious and would generally discourage or prohibit benefiting from pork in this way.
Therefore, the correct fatwa is that there is a valid and recognized permissibility for feeding bacon to your cats, especially since cats are not animals intended for consumption and the issue is not worship, but animal feeding.
At the same time, it remains better manners and cleaner practice to avoid handling najasah when alternatives are available, but this is a matter of cleanliness and avoidance of impurity, not a matter of shirk or major sin.
4. Handling and Purity
Handling bacon does not invalidate your worship, but pork is najis. and it’s not permissible to help in distribution even if it’s for Homeless shelters.
However:
- The work is humanitarian service, so it’s not selling or buying.
- The food is not being eaten by you
- You are not endorsing haram consumption
- The recipients are often non-Muslim and not bound by Islamic dietary law
Many scholars classical and modern allowed this type of work, particularly when it is part of general assistance which include both Halal and Haram and not only haram.
5. Relevant Usul Principles
تحريم الشيء لا يستلزم تحريم جميع وجوه الانتفاع به
The prohibition of a thing does not necessarily entail the prohibition of every form of benefiting from it.
The prohibition of pork applies to Muslim consumption. Other forms of use or benefit are evaluated separately based on evidence and juristic analysis.الأحكام تتعلق بالمكلف لا بغيره
Legal rulings apply to the morally accountable person, not to animals.
Animals are not bound by halal and haram, and rulings concerning their feeding are assessed independently from rulings governing human consumption.
Final Ruling
Feeding bacon to your cats is permissible according to a strong and well-known juristic position, supported by the Maliki, Shafii, and Hanbali treatment of feeding najasah to animals that are not eaten.
Avoid handling Banon sandwiches when working at a homeless shelter.
And Allah knows best.