There are three living creatures in the world: human being, animals, and plants. Among those three being, human is the most perfect. Thus, human being has more responsibility for the lives of the other two since they are the only one who capable of. There come great rewards for Allah SWT to whoever human who show generosity by feeding animals.
Birds are animal that have a long history in Islam. In the past, when Abrahah was attacking Mecca and aimed to destroy Ka’bah, Allah SWT sent an army of Ababil birds that held deadly volcano stone from Hell as help. As birds had been very useful for Islam, there are many benefits of feeding birds in Islam.
Among those are:
- Rewarded by Allah SWT
There are no good deed that is not rewarded by Allah SWT. Feeding birds, one of the dearest creature of Allah SWT will gained human reward directly from Allah SWT. As it shows his generosity as well as helping other being to stay alive. Not only birds, we must feed any other animal we meet. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
“(Yes) there is a reward for serving any animate (living being).” (Bukhari and Muslim)
- Gain Forgiveness from Allah SWT
Every human needs forgiveness from Allah SWT so that all of his sin can be erased. We never know where would Allah’s forgiveness come from, just like the story about woman prostitute whom sin was forgiven after she gave water to a nearly dead dog.
As related by Abu Hurairah (RA), the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,
“A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that.” (Bukhari)
- Rewarded by Allah SWT
Story about the prostitute above made us realize that Allah SWT is extremely generous for He would forgive a big sin only with a small deed. This big rewards is for anyone, so that we must never underestimate the benefits of feeding birds in Islam. In fact, we should always do good anywhere since we never know which deed can give us the biggest rewards,
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,
“Do not deem any good deed as insignificant.” (Muslim)
- Equal with Doing Charity
Doing good deed is a way to make up for the sins we have done, so that we must do it continually for the rest of our lives. Doing charity is one of the deed we can do. To give charity, we shouldn’t give certain amount of money, especially when we are poor. Showing generosity to other living being is enough to be counted as charity itself. Also read: Benefits of Walking in Islam
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also said,
“There is not a Muslim who plants trees or cultivates land of which a bird, man, or beast eats thereof except that is a charity on his behalf.” (Muslim)
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- Embodying the Prophet’s Spirit
As a human being, we should be useful for other living creatures in the world. Thus, our existence will be benefiting. Other than that, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was someone who love animal dearly, so to embody his generous spirit we should do the same thing too. That is the reason why we created as the most perfect being in the world.
“We have not sent thee, save as a mercy unto all beings.” (21:107)
- Fun Educational Activities for Children
Young children always fascinated when it comes to animal. It’s important to educate all young children to love other creatures and to take care of them. As a start, we can teach our children to feed the birds. It will be fun and enjoyable for them since bird is a friendly animal, not to mention their colorful furs that children loves. Through this, they will learn how to share and how to take care of animal. This fun activity can also bring parents and their children even closer. Also read: Tips for Teaching Children Ramadan Fasting
- Following the Sunnah
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a guide book for Muslims when it comes to attitude, way of life, worshiping Allah SWT, and any other aspects in life. Allah SWT command us to follow every step he took as he is the most excellent guide for all Muslims. Feeding the birds means we also following the Sunnah of the Prophet, and gain favor from Allah SWT at the same time.
“You have in the Messenger of Allah an excellent exemplar for him who hopes in Allah and the latter day and remembers Allah much. (33:21)
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- Taking Care of Fellow Living Creatures
It has become our undeniable obligations to take care of other living creatures in the world. We should never hunt animal and kill them roughly nor we kill plants by burning the forest or cut them down. Since none of them can never take revenge to human, we will be severely sinned if we are not taking care of them. Also read: How to Keep Family Ties in Islam
- Doing Good Deed for Animal
Doing good deed is very easy and we have so many ways to do good deeds. One of them is surely feeding the birds and other animals.
- Enabling Interaction with Nature
Feeding the birds can be the first interaction with the nature for our kids. Later on, they will have no fear of getting close to other animals. Also read: Effects of Social Media on Islam
- Setting Example for Children
If we want our children to love and cherish their nature, it should be started from us. We have to show them how to love animals for them to follow suit in the future. Also read: Law of Kissing Children When Sleeping In Islam
- Releasing Stress from the Body
Seeing the colorful birds and how well they eat is a sight for us. It release many stress hormones from the body, as proven through a research.
So those are all the benefits of feeding birds in Islam. Not only birds, we should love and taking care of other animals equally.