not to dispute with me tomorrow before my Lord, for I did not impose upon you more than you could bear. This was narrated by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Akhmīmī in "His Ḥadīth" (63/1). And from Abū ʿUthmān al-Thaqafī, who said: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) had a servant who worked with a mule of his, bringing him a dirham every day. One day, he brought a dirham and a half, so [ʿUmar] said: "Did something occur to you?" He replied: "The market price increased." [ʿUmar] said: "No, but you have worn out the mule! Let it rest for three days." This was narrated by Aḥmad in "Al-Zuhd" (19/59/1) with a sound isnād to Abū ʿUthmān, but I did not find a biography for this [servant]. These are some of the reports I have come across so far, and they indicate the extent to which the early Muslims were influenced by the Prophet’s (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) guidance on kindness to animals. They are, in truth, a small part of a larger whole and a drop in the ocean. This clearly shows that Islam was the one to establish the principle of (kindness to animals), contrary to what some ignorant of Islam think—that it was established by European disbelievers. Rather, it is one of the etiquettes they received from the early Muslims, then expanded upon, organized meticulously, and adopted by their states until kindness to animals became one of their attributes today, leading the ignorant to mistakenly believe it is exclusive to them! They are deceived in this because this system is hardly seen implemented in any Islamic country, though they are more deserving of it and its people! Kindness to animals in some European countries has reached a level not free from exaggeration. An example of this is what I read in "Al-Hilāl Magazine" (Vol. 27, Issue 9, p. 126) under the title: "The Animal and the Human": "The railway station in Copenhagen had bats nesting in it for about half a century. When it was decided to demolish and rebuild it, the municipality constructed a tower costing tens of thousands..