A seminar organized by Tabah Foundation for Research and Consultations was held in Cairo, Egypt. The seminar focused on one of the foundation’s research papers titled “Rights and Duties Pertaining to Kept Animals” discussing the appropriate treatment of owned or domesticated animals from an Islamic perspective.
The event was attended by Dr. Osama Al-Azhari, a member of Tabah Foundation’s Academic Committee, His Eminence Ali Al-Jafri, the foundation’s chairman, and Sheikh Ahmed Mamdouh, a Fatwa advisor at Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta.
The seminar addressed the question of how we should treat the animals that we keep as companions, given our natural inclination and societal norms, and whether there are specific religious obligations regarding their care. The discussion centered on a jurisprudential study of the proper behaviors in dealing with owned animals, examining relevant Quran verses and hadiths, and applying the principles of one of the Islamic legal schools to the topic of owned animals.
The paper was presented by its author, Sheikh Musa Furber, a scholar who studied Islamic jurisprudence in Damascus, where he obtained a license to teach Shafi’i fiqh. He subsequently studied at Dar al-Ifta in Cairo and is the first Western Muslim to receive a fatwa license from the institution, granted by former Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Ali Gomaa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied linguistics from Portland State University in Oregon, USA, and a master’s degree in public administration from the Dubai School of Government.