Killing ants

2-10-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it permissible to kill ants in one's home? I've read a Hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade the killing of ants, but I'm not sure how far this applies.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

It is Haram to kill ants for the Hadith recorded by Ahmad , Abu Dawood from Ibn Abbas (Radiya Allahu Anhu) who said: "Allah's Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) prohibited the killing of four animals: The ant, bee, shrike and hoopoe" .
But, it is permitted to kill the harmful ants (known as termites) that may harm a human being or his belongings.
Some scholars believe that prohibition of killing the ants is limited only to the Red big ants that are harmless - Insha Allah.
However, we think that the first opinion, i.e. prohibition of killing, is the sound opinion, and it is wrong to break the rule unless it is proved that the ants are harmful and we cannot get rid of them except by killing.
Allah knows best.