Justice is taken very seriously in Islam, and any kind of oppression, whether towards animals, plants or fellow human beings is frowned upon in Islam, because Islam acknowledges that abuse only perpetuates a vicious cycle of further abuse and mistreatment, which is never something good.

Allah’s Apostle said, “Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one. People asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! It is alright to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?” The Prophet said, “By preventing him from oppressing others.”

(Reported in Sahih Bukhari; 3:43:624)

So from this we can see that Islam instructs its followers to stand up for the oppressed, as well as against the oppressors. When applied to protecting animals against abuse, this would be in line with what animal rights groups are striving for. In another hadith it is said:

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar: Allah’s Apostle said, “A lady was punished because of a cat which she had imprisoned till it died. She entered the Fire because of it, for she neither gave it food nor water as she had imprisoned it, nor set it free to eat from the vermin of the earth.”

(Reported in Sahih Bukhari; 4:56:689)

From here we can see that Islam takes the safety and treatment of animals very seriously, to the point that a lady was given the ultimate punishment for her cruelty towards an animal, which, to me, is very scary. Oppression of an animal is thus an act which is prohibited with dire consequences.

Plants, trees, fruits, and harvests are also mentioned repeatedly in verses in the Quran and readers of the Quran are asked to reflect upon these verses and be thankful for the bounties they have been given.

It is He who has spread out the earth for His creatures; therein is fruit and date-palms producing spathes; and also corn, with leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet smelling plants. Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?

(Quran 55: 10-13)

The value of plants in Islam is also highlighted in this hadith:

“If a Muslim plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, it is regarded as a charitable gift (sadaqah) for him.”

(Reported in Sahih Bukhari)

Giving charity is one of the tenets of Islam, and here we can see that even planting a tree is regarded as an act of charity, because Islam recognises that trees are precious and serve multiple purposes as sources of food and shelter.