Extend Compassion to All

Extend Compassion to All is there any reward for serving animals as well?’ The Prophet said, ‘Yes you will be rewarded for serving any animate thing.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2363) When a person’s body is in need of water he naturally feels thirsty. That leads him to drink water and fulfil the need of the body. The same is true of feeling cold or hungry. This is a call from nature telling a person that now he has to eat, or use woollen clothes, or drink water and thus fulfil his needs. Animals also have such feelings but animals are aware of them only within themselves. The case of a human being is different. It is required of humans to extend these feelings to others. Just as he feels his own need and makes arrangements to fulfil it, he should feel the need of others and also of animals, and try to fulfil their needs. Fulfilling one’s own need is to respond to one’s own natural urges. But fulfilling others’ needs is a form of worship and demonstrates the highest form of human values.