Why Did the Prophet ﷺ Prohibit Prayer in Camel Pens and Describe Camels as Being from the Shayatin?
Question
Esselemu Aleikum.
I saw a hadith which says that we cannot pray in camel pens and that camels are from the shayatin.
What is the reason we cannot pray in these places, and what does it mean that camels are from the shayatin?
Best regards.
Answer
Alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulillah, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in.
There are authentic hadiths distinguishing between places where sheep are kept and places where camels are kept.
The Prophet ﷺ was asked:
“May I pray in sheep pens?” He said: “Yes.” He was asked: “May I pray in the places where camels kneel?” He said: “No.”
Sahih Muslim
Other narrations mention that camels were created from or are associated with the shayatin. These expressions have been interpreted in different ways by the scholars and should not immediately be understood as meaning that camels are literally devils.
1. Is the Prohibition Because Camel Pens Are Impure?
The scholars discussed the reason for the prohibition.
One interpretation was that camel resting places may contain urine and dung and therefore may be unsuitable for prayer.
However, this does not fully explain the hadith. The Prophet ﷺ specifically distinguished camels from sheep, even though sheep pens can also contain animal waste.
Furthermore, according to a significant body of jurists, particularly the Malikis and Hanbalis, the urine and dung of animals whose meat is lawful to eat are not inherently najis.
Therefore, ritual impurity alone is unlikely to explain the entire ruling.
2. The Nature of Camels
Another explanation given by scholars concerns the temperament of camels.
Camels are large, powerful animals and can sometimes be difficult, agitated, stubborn or dangerous. A person praying among resting camels could therefore have his concentration disturbed or potentially be harmed if they suddenly move.
Some scholars connected this temperament with the descriptions found in the hadith concerning shayatin.
The Prophet ﷺ also associated harshness and pride with people particularly occupied with camels, while associating tranquility with sheep-herders. This is established in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
This does not mean that owning or caring for camels is blameworthy. Camels themselves are lawful animals and are repeatedly mentioned among Allah’s blessings.
Allah says:
“Do they not look at the camels, how they were created?”
Surat al-Ghashiyah 88:17
3. What Does “Camels Are From the Shayatin” Mean?
Scholars gave more than one explanation.
Some understood the hadith according to its apparent meaning and said that there is some real connection between camels and the shayatin, the precise nature of which belongs to the unseen. In that case, we affirm what the Prophet ﷺ stated without claiming knowledge of exactly how this relationship works.
Other scholars interpreted the expression in reference to the shaytan-like characteristics sometimes found in camels, such as agitation, stubbornness, aggression and unpredictability.
Arabic usage can describe something as being “from” something because it possesses its characteristics or resembles it in a particular respect. The word shaytan itself can be used more broadly for something extremely rebellious or troublesome.
Therefore, the hadith does not necessarily mean that camels are literally devils or descendants of Iblis.
4. Ibn Taymiyyah’s Explanation
Ibn Taymiyyah discussed these narrations and considered the connection between camels and shayatin to have a real significance rather than reducing the prohibition merely to physical impurity.
Other scholars emphasized the camel’s temperament and the disturbance or danger associated with its resting place.
Accordingly, there is no unanimous explanation of the exact illah, or effective cause, behind the prohibition.
What is certain is the Prophetic instruction itself.
5. Are Camels Evil or Haram?
No.
Camels are among the lawful animals Allah created for human benefit. Their meat is halal, they may be owned and traded, and the Quran itself directs people to reflect upon their remarkable creation.
So the hadith should not be understood as teaching that camels are intrinsically evil creatures.
Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ instructed that eating camel meat requires renewed wudu according to the apparent meaning of the relevant hadith, and the Hanbali school consequently considers wudu necessary after eating camel meat. Other schools interpreted the evidence differently.
These special rulings demonstrate that the Sharia assigned certain distinctive rulings to camels, even when the complete wisdom behind them is not known to us.
6. Is Prayer in a Camel Pen Invalid?
There is a juristic disagreement.
The Hanbali school takes the prohibition particularly strongly and holds that prayer in the places where camels rest is invalid.
Other jurists understood the prohibition differently, with some considering prayer there disliked rather than invalid, particularly where the actual place of prayer is pure.
Therefore, one should simply avoid deliberately praying in a camel resting enclosure when another suitable location is available.
This prohibition concerns the places specifically associated with camels resting and gathering. It does not mean that every piece of ground upon which a camel has ever walked becomes unsuitable for prayer.
7. Relevant Usul Principle
An important principle concerning matters such as this is:
الأصل في الأمر والنهي حملهما على ظاهرهما حتى يقوم دليل صارف
The basic rule is that commands and prohibitions are understood according to their apparent meaning unless evidence indicates otherwise.
We therefore follow the Prophet’s ﷺ instruction concerning camel resting places even if scholars differ regarding the precise wisdom behind it.
Another important distinction is between the حكم and the حكمة.
The ruling can be established by revelation even when the complete wisdom behind that ruling has not been disclosed. We should therefore avoid inventing a definitive reason when the Prophet ﷺ himself did not explicitly state one.
Final Ruling
The Prophet ﷺ authentically prohibited prayer in the places where camels kneel and rest, while permitting prayer in sheep pens.
The prohibition cannot confidently be reduced merely to impurity, since the hadith specifically distinguishes camels from sheep and several jurists regard the waste of animals whose meat is permissible as pure.
As for the descriptions connecting camels with shayatin, scholars differed in interpretation. Some affirmed a real connection whose exact nature is unknown to us, while others understood the expression as referring to the camel’s particularly forceful, restless and sometimes rebellious temperament.
It does not mean that camels are simply evil animals or that they are literally devils in the ordinary sense. Camels are lawful animals and are explicitly mentioned by Allah as signs of His creation.
The safest approach is therefore to accept the Prophetic ruling, avoid praying in camel resting enclosures, and not claim certainty about the precise hidden reason where revelation itself has not given us one.
And Allah knows best.