Ruling on hunting for fun, and hunting during breeding season and nesting season?

Question

Is hunting as a hobby or for recreational purposes permissible according to Islamic teachings? What about hunting birds during the nesting season? I’ve heard that it is not permissible. If that is true, then does it mean that hunting rock doves is not allowed, because they breed all year round?

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

Hunting is of two types:

The first type:

Hunting in order to make use of the prey, either for eating, selling, giving it in charity to the needy, giving it to friends and relatives, or other ways of making use of it. This is permissible according to scholarly consensus.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin said: Undoubtedly it is permissible. It is something that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has permitted in His Book, it is confirmed by the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and the Muslims are unanimously agreed on that.”(Ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘ 15/98).

The second type:

Hunting that is done for fun and recreation only, and when the hunter has killed the prey, he leaves it without making use of it at all.

This type of hunting is disliked (makruh) according to some of the scholars, and others are inclined to think that it is prohibited (haram). The evidence for it being disliked is the report narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever kills a sparrow inappropriately, Allah will ask him about that on the Day of Resurrection.”

It was said: What is appropriate [with regard to hunting]?

He said: “[What is appropriate is] that you should slaughter it and eat it, and not cut off its head and throw it aside.”

Narrated by an-Nasa’i (4349) and ad-Darimi (1978). Adh-Dhahabi said in al-Muhadhdhab (7/3614): Its isnad is jayyid (good). It was classed as sahih by Ibn al-Mulaqqin in al-Badr al-Munir (9/376); and classed as hasan by Ibn Kathir in Irshad al-Faqih (1/368) and by al-Albani in Sahih al-Targhib (1092).

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin said: This [type of hunting] is disliked, and if it were to be said that it is prohibited, that is reasonable, because it is messing about and is a waste of money and time.”(Ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘ 15/98).

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani said: If [the hunter] does not intend to make use of [the prey], it is haram, because it is spreading mischief in the land by killing a soul for no purpose.”(Fath al-Bari 9/602).

In Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Da’imah (22/512), it says: With regard to killing it merely for fun and sport, that is not allowed, because of what it involves of wasting money and cruelty to animals. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade that. End quote.

For more information, please see the answer to question no. 152261 .

Secondly:

We do not know of any Islamic text which prohibits hunting during breeding season or nesting season. Therefore hunting at these times remains permissible.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin said: It appears that the shar‘i ruling is that it is permissible, but it is better, during the nesting season, not to kill the bird, meaning that the hunter should not kill it unless he knows where the young are, in which case he may kill it, then go and take the young and slaughter them and make use of them..”(Nur ‘ala ad-Darb 1/75).

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Shaykh was asked: Should we refrain from hunting some animals or some birds if they are pregnant or they have chicks, respectively?

He replied: I have not heard anything about that [meaning, I do not know of any evidence from the religious text to suggest that one should refrain from that], but it is more appropriate to leave the mother who has chicks, but as for it being haram, that is not the case.”(Fatawa wa Rasa’il Muhammad ibn Ibrahim 12/223).

The scholars regarded it as disliked to hunt mother birds who have chicks who still need her.

It says in Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Da’imah: It is not permissible to kill their mother or capture her alive, when her children are still small and need their mother’s care.”(Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Da’imah 22/512).

Shaykh Ibn Jibrin (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It is disliked to hunt birds which have small chicks, because this is harmful to their chicks. It is also disliked to take the chicks when they are small, as this causes distress to the mother, because of the compassion for them that Allah has instilled in her.

But if the hunter kills the mother and takes the chicks, then what appears to be the case is that there is nothing wrong with that, because the basic principle is that it is permissible to hunt for food. End quote.

Conclusion: hunting birds during the breeding season and nesting season, or hunting birds that have small chicks, is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it, even though it is better not to do that.

And Allah knows best.