It is permissible to keep animals as pets, and even keep them in a cage, as long as they are properly taken care of. There was a young boy in the city of Madīnah who kept a bird as a pet in his house and the Prophet asked him how the bird was doing, but did not criticize the fact that it was kept as a pet. [Bukhārī & Muslim].

God knows best,

Imam Mustafa Umar

No, it is not permissible to do so. God has created animals in a way that they generally have the capability to survive in the wild. Even if they do not survive, due to their long-term domestication, it is not a decision that humans should take into their own hands. They might be eaten by another animal or play some other beneficial role in the ecosystem that God has created.

The Prophet once strongly criticized a woman who had imprisoned a cat that starved to death and said, “She neither provided it with food and drink, nor did she free it so it could survive on the vermin of the land.” [Bukhārī & Muslim] This indicates that if she could not bear the responsibility of taking care of the cat, she should have let it go free and allowed it to try to survive on its own.

Statistics show that domesticated animals that are released into the wild have a chance of survival. However, even if they do not survive, it should not be viewed as some type of cruelty because they were created for such a purpose, and there is divine wisdom in that.

God knows best,

Imam Mustafa Umar