What is the ruling on selling animals and birds at high prices, such as sixty thousand for some animals?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, some people work in selling animals and birds at high prices, and the price of an animal may reach sixty thousand riyals, or a bird five thousand or ten thousand riyals. What is your opinion?
The Shaykh : What kind of bird is this? I mean falcons?
The questioner : Like pigeons, and others!
The Shaykh : By Allah, they mentioned that there are certain types that are expensive, and the whole market is at this price. If this is what people desire, there is nothing wrong with it.
But as for pigeons, I fear that their value has not increased this much except for the sake of playing with them, and playing with pigeons is a waste of time, which is prohibited. Otherwise, what is the difference between a pigeon for ten riyals and a pigeon for five thousand?
The questioner : There is a type of pigeon that carries messages from Dammam to Kuwait!
The Shaykh : Pigeons used to carry messages in the past, when people were on camels and donkeys. Now the message is available by fax, and available orally by telephone, so there is no need for them now.
The questioner : And who works in this, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : By Allah, I see that this is something to be feared as a waste of money on one hand, and as aiding in amusement on the other hand. As for it being a waste of money: how can I spend five thousand on this pigeon? Perhaps a cat will come and eat it, or it will die of thirst, or something like that! Yes.
The Shaykh : What kind of bird is this? I mean falcons?
The questioner : Like pigeons, and others!
The Shaykh : By Allah, they mentioned that there are certain types that are expensive, and the whole market is at this price. If this is what people desire, there is nothing wrong with it.
But as for pigeons, I fear that their value has not increased this much except for the sake of playing with them, and playing with pigeons is a waste of time, which is prohibited. Otherwise, what is the difference between a pigeon for ten riyals and a pigeon for five thousand?
The questioner : There is a type of pigeon that carries messages from Dammam to Kuwait!
The Shaykh : Pigeons used to carry messages in the past, when people were on camels and donkeys. Now the message is available by fax, and available orally by telephone, so there is no need for them now.
The questioner : And who works in this, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : By Allah, I see that this is something to be feared as a waste of money on one hand, and as aiding in amusement on the other hand. As for it being a waste of money: how can I spend five thousand on this pigeon? Perhaps a cat will come and eat it, or it will die of thirst, or something like that! Yes.