What is the ruling on killing insects with an electric shock?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original

Question:
The questioner (M. M.) says: There is an electrical device in the markets called an insect trap, which works by shocking the insect until it dies. Is this considered burning with fire? And is it permissible to sell it and possess it?

Answer:
It is not permissible to burn with fire, but one may destroy them by means other than fire. As for burning with fire, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade torturing with fire and said:

Narrated Abu Hurairah: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent us with an army and said: 'If you see so-and-so, and so-and-so' referring to two men from the Quraish: 'then burn them with fire.' Then, upon our departure, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'I ordered you to burn so-and-so, and so-and-so with fire, and indeed, none punishes with fire except Allah. So if you see them, then kill them.'" There are narrations on this topic from Ibn 'Abbas and Hamzah bin 'Amr Al-Aslami. [Abu 'Eisa said:] The Hadith of Abu Hurairah is a Hasan Sahih Hadith. This is acted upon according to the people of knowledge. In this Hadith, Muhammad bin Ishaq mentioned a man (narrating) between Sulaiman bin Yasar and Abu Hurairah. Others reported this Hadith the same as Al-Laith reported it(here, without a man between them). The narration of Al-Laith bin Sa'd is more appropriate and more correct.

لا يعذب بها إلا الله

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1571Sahih (Darussalam)

So if there is something that harms him, such as mosquitoes or ants, or the like, [one should deal with them] by means other than fire. Yes.

Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

Similar fatwas