Three Types of Animals
In his ahya ul Ulum, Imam Ghazali Rahmaatullahi alaih has said that Allah has created three types of animals.
One of these types are beneficial to mankind and it is very rare that they harm man. Examples of this type are: horses,cows, sheep, and so on. They are beneficial because they give milk and when they do not, they are slaughtered for their meat; that is, they give up their lives to benefit man. These animals do not harm anybody.
The second type includes animals that are always harmful to man and there is no apparent benefit from them. Examples of this kind are snakes, scorpions, beasts of prey, and so on; they are all harmful animals. They bite man.
The third kind of animals are those animals that neither benefit nor harm. These are found in the wild and include fox, jackal, and others. Man does not gain from them nor is harmed by them to a noticeable extent.
After recalling these types of animals, Imam Ghazali Rahmatullahi Alaih addresses man and says, “O Man! You are the Best creation and you enjoy excellence over all animals. If you do not behave as a human being but wish to live as an animal then at least imitate the first kind of animal who benefits other creatures but does not harm them, like the cow and goat.
But, if you wish to stoop lower then become like the third type that neither harms nor benefits.
If you are not like either of these and cause harm to other people instead of benefitting them then you have grouped with the second type of snakes and scorpions, and the like.”
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