The thirsty dog: kindness to animals

The story

On the hottest day of the summer a brown dog pads up Alif Lane, tongue out, and flops down in the shade of the garden wall. Raiha wants to run at him, Yusuf stops her, and Baba brings a bowl of water, sets it down by the wall and has the children step back while the dog drinks it all; Noor the cat, offended, gets a bowl of her own, and Raiha names the dog Woof. Baba tells the story the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, told about the man who climbed back down a well to carry water up in his shoe for a thirsty dog, and Mama teaches the hadith of mercy and why kindness from a little distance is still kindness.

What your child learned

• Be kind to those on the earth, and the One above the heavens will be kind to you. Those on the earth means everybody: people, cats, dogs, birds, even the ants.
• The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, told of a man who climbed back down a well and carried water up in his shoe for a dog so thirsty it was licking the wet mud. Allah thanked him for what he did and forgave him.
• When his companions asked whether there is a reward for being kind to animals too, he said: for every living creature there is a reward.
• We help a dog we do not know from a little distance: put the water down, step back, do not touch him, and wash our hands when we come in. Kind from a little distance is still kind.

Talk about it at dinner

• What did the man in Baba's story use to carry the water up the well?
• Who do we have to be kind to? Does that include the ants?
• Why did the children put the bowl down and step back instead of stroking Woof?

Try this week

Give your child one creature to look after this week: filling the cat's bowl before anyone asks, putting a dish of water out for the birds on a hot day, or letting a butterfly or a spider go instead of catching it. Say Irhamu man fil-ard together while they do it.

Print and do

Where it comes from

The teaching in this episode rests on these sources. The links open quran.com and sunnah.com, where you can read each one in Arabic and English.

• The man who gave a thirsty dog water from his shoe and was forgiven, and for every living creature there is a reward: Sahih al-Bukhari 2363
• The same hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 6009
• The same hadith: Sahih Muslim 2244
• The merciful are shown mercy by the Most Merciful; be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will be merciful to you: Jami at-Tirmidhi 1924
• The same hadith: Sunan Abi Dawud 4941 (sahih)
• Mercy to animals generally: Quran 21:107

In this episode

1. 0:00 Welcome
2. 0:03 The hottest day
3. 1:12 Woof and the well
4. 3:29 Be kind on the earth
5. 4:34 Say it with me
6. 5:24 Noor's bowl
7. 5:55 The butterfly
8. 6:34 Woof comes back
9. 7:11 The Kindness Song
10. 7:42 Quiz
11. 8:27 Sing along

From the same episode

• The Kindness Song, the song on its own with the words on screen (from Thursday 19 November).
• Wudu, the Bedtime Dua and the Thirsty Dog! Three Episodes, a longer sitting (from Sunday 22 November).

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