lslam uestion and Answer

Who takes the souls of animals and what is their fate7

When anmate bengs other than humans, namey anmas and brds, de, where do ther sous go? Does the
Ange of death take them, or what exacty happens to them?
Prase be to Aah.
Aah, may He be gorfed, tes us that the Ange of death takes the sous of the sons of Adam, as He says
(nterpretaton of the meanng): 5ay: "The angel of death, who is set over you, will take your souls, then you
shall be brought back to your Lord."" jas-5ajdah 32:JJ].
Wth regard to the sous of anmas and brds, there s no text that speaks about them n the Ouran or saheeh
Sunnah, as far as we know. Rather what has been narrated concernng that s a hadeeth that s not sound
(saheeh). Ths s a report that was narrated by a-Aqee n ad-Duafa: "The fespan of a anmas, ce, feas,
ocusts, horses and mues, a of them, catte and so on, ther fespans are a connected to ther tasbeeh. When
ther tasbeeh comes to an end, Aah takes ther sous, and the Ange of death has nothng to do wth that."
A-Abaan sad n as-5ilsilah ad-Daeefah (4/188): It s mawdoo (fabrcated).
Hence some of the schoars sad that the Ange of death s the one who takes the sous of a creatures, whst
others sad that Aah takes ther sous Hmsef and causes ther fe to cease.
See: at-Tadhkirah by a-Ourtub, p. 75; al-Fawaakih ad-Dawaani, 1/100
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Aah have mercy on hm) s of the vew that askng about that s unnecessary. He
(may Aah have mercy on hm) was asked: Is the Ange of death apponted to take the sous of anmas?
He reped:
What woud you thnk f I sad that the Ange of death s or s not apponted to take the sous of anmas; what
beneft s there n knowng ths? Dd the Sahaabah ask the Messenger (bessngs and peace of Aah be upon
hm) about that, when they were more eager than others to seek knowedge, and the Messenger was more abe
than others to answer, yet despte that they dd not ask? Rather Aah, may He be gorfed and exated) says
(nterpretaton of the meanng): 5ay: The angel of death, who is set over you, will take your souls, then you
shall be brought back to your Lord." jas-5ajdah 32:JJ]. He (the Ange of death) s apponted to take the sous of
the sons of Adam; wth regard to the sous of creatures other than the sons of Adam, nothng s proven. And
Aah knows best.
But the most mportant thng to say n response to ths queston s that man shoud not go to extremes (naskng
questons). The Prophet (bessngs and peace of Aah be upon hm) sad: "Those who go to extremes (n ther
words and deeds) are doomed." So do not ask about thngs n whch there s no beneft. By Aah, f there were
any beneft n our knowng whether the Ange of death takes the sous of other creatures, Aah, may He be
gorfed and exated, woud have tod us about t, ether n the Ouran or Sunnah, or Aah woud have caused
someone to ask the Messenger about that. Hence the Sahaabah woud re|oce when a Bedoun came from the
desert to ask about somethng that they mght fee too shy to ask the Messenger about.
The pont s, for you and anyone ese who s stenng, that devng deepy nto such matters s wrong, because
the Messenger sad: ""Those who go to extremes (n ther words and deeds) are doomed." And on one occason
he sad: "Those who go to extremes (n ther words and deeds) are doomed, those who go to extremes (n ther
words and deeds) are doomed, those who go to extremes (n ther words and deeds) are doomed", three tmes.
Wth regard to such matters of the unseen, you shoud take what has been proven and eave that whch has not
been mentoned. Wth regard to matters of the unseen, we shoud take that whch has been proven to us, and
as for the rest, we shoud keep quet about t; f t was mportant for us, or f there were any nterest to be
served by knowng t, Aah woud have expaned t. Aah, may He be exated, sad to the Messenger (bessngs
and peace of Aah be upon hm):
And We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad 5AW) the reminder and the advice (the Ouran), that you
may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them"
jan-Nahl J6:44].
The Messenger (bessngs and peace of Aah be upon hm) dd not eave anythng that we need but he
expaned t to us.
End quote from Liqa al-8aab al-Maftooh, 11/146
Secondy:
Wth regard to the fate of the sous of these anmas, t was narrated by Abd ar-Razzaaq n hs Musannaf, by Ibn
|ubayr, and by a-Bayhaq n al-8ath from Abu Hurayrah, that he sad concernng the verse (nterpretaton of the
meanng), There is not a moving (living) creature on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but are
communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the 8ook, then unto their Lord they (all) shall be gathered"
jal-Anaam 6:38]: A creatures w be gathered on the Day of Resurrecton, anmas, beasts, brds and
everythng. Then Aahs |ustce on that day w reach such an extent that Aah w sette the score for the
horness anma wth the horned one. Then He w say, Be dust, at whch pont the dsbeever w say: Would
that l were dust| jan-Naba 78:40].
See: Tafseer lbn latheer, 3/255
A-Abaan sad n as-5ilsilah as-5aheehah (4/466): Ths was narrated by as-Suyoot n ad-Durr al-Manthoor
(6/310), but he dd not say anythng about ts snaad as he usuay does. Accordng to Ibn |areer (30/17) t s
qawy. End quote.
And Aah knows best.
http://samqa.nfo/en/119652