Narrated Ibn `Umar: That he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) delivering a sermon on the pulpit saying, "Kill snakes and kill Dhu-at- Tufyatain (i.e. a snake with two white lines on its back) and Al-Abtar (i.e. a snake with mutilated tail) for they destroy the sight of one's eyes and bring about abortion." (`Abdullah bin `Umar further added): Once while I was chasing a snake in order, to kill it, Abu Lubaba called me saying: "Don't kill it," I said. "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ordered us to kill snakes." He said, "But later on he prohibited the killing of snakes living in the houses."
The same report is narrated in Sahih Muslim from Ibn ʿUmar as well. But in that narration dogs are also added alongside snakes, stating that dogs and snakes both cause loss of eyesight and induce miscarriage in women.
Ibn 'Umar reported: I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) commanding the killing of dogs and the killing of the striped and the short-tailed snakes, for both of them affect the eyesight adversely and cause miscarriage.
The same report is also narrated in Sahih Muslim from ʿAisha (link), in which she likewise attributes to snakes the blame for weakening eyesight and causing miscarriage.
Modern science has not shown that the number of miscarriages in the West is caused by keeping dogs in the home or by the presence of snakes.
One can only shake his head at this strange religion.
In defense of this hadith, the largest Islamic website IslamWeb.net writes (link):
"The meaning of 'snakes take away sight and cause miscarriage' is that by virtue of their poisonous glance they take away eyesight and destroy it. Others say it means that their bite causes blindness. By 'causing miscarriage' is meant the fetus either by their look if one looks at them, due to their poisonous glance, or for some people, the fear they produce. This interpretation is given by the author of ‘Awn al-Maʿbūd’ commenting on Sunan Abu Dawud."
The author of Awn al-Maʿbūd is inventing such excuses on his own, while the whole world’s experience and science contradict this:
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People do not lose their eyesight because of the "poisonous look" of dogs or snakes.
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And a dog bite or a snake’s venomous bite does not directly cause blindness or miscarriage; it can cause severe illness, madness, or death, but not the phenomena described here.
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Merely being frightened by a dog or snake does not make a person lose eyesight or cause miscarriage.
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It makes no difference whether a snake has two stripes or a cut tail. Any venomous snake’s bite can be fatal; the fear factor is similar for any deadly snake.
Concerning not killing household snakes, the same website writes (link) that the Prophet said these might be jinn who have accepted Islam. Therefore, give house snakes three days’ warning. If after three days they do not leave, then kill them because they are devils.
Prophet Muhammad’s instruction: Do not kill household snakes because they may be Muslim "jinn"
The Prophet’s teaching not to kill household snakes (even if venomous) is very interesting.
Please note first that:
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The concept of jinn does not exist in Judaism and Christianity or the Bible.
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Rather, the jinn concept was present among some other peoples and was adopted into pre-Islamic Arab society, and it was from there that Muhammad incorporated it into Islam. The reason is that the jinn concept creates fear, and that fear has been used by charlatans and magic-workers to deceive innocent people. Muhammad, too, used this fear to control his followers.
Now let us look at the story by which Muhammad is said to have turned household snakes into jinn.
Abu as-Sa'ib said that he visited Abu Sa'id Khudri in his house, (and he further) said: I found him saying his prayer, so I sat down waiting for him to finish his prayer when I heard a stir in the bundles (of wood) lying in a comer of the house. I looked towards it and found a snake. I jumped up in order to kill it, but he (Abu Sa'id Khudri) made a gesture that I should sit down. So I sat down and as he finished (the prayer) he pointed to a room in the house and said: Do you see this room? I said: Yes. He said: There was a young man amongst us who had been newly wedded. We went with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (to participate in the Battle) of Trench when a young man in the midday used to seek permission from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to return to his family. One day he sought permission from him and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (after granting him the permission) said to him: Carry your weapons with you for I fear the tribe of Quraiza (may harm you). The man carried the weapons and then came back and found his wife standing between the two doors. He bent towards her smitten by jealousy and made a dash towards her with a spear in order to stab her. She said: Keep your spear away and enter the house until you see that which has made me come out. He entered and found a big snake coiled on the bedding. He darted with the spear and pierced it and then went out having fixed it in the house, but the snake quivered and attacked him and no one knew which of them died first, the snake or the young man. We came to Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) and made a mention to him and said: Supplicate to Allah that that (man) may be brought back to life. Thereupon he said: Ask forgiveness for your companion and then said: There are in Medina jinns who have accepted Islam, so when you see any one of them, pronounce a warning to it for three days, and if they appear before you after that, then kill it for that is a devil.
Now consider these points:
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There was no heavenly Allah present in the sky in a demonstrable way, nor did Muhammad possess supernatural power to restore life. Thus Muhammad could not literally resurrect the young man.
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To deflect the people's demand, Muhammad claimed the slain snake might have been a Muslim jinn, hence was not to be harmed.
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To give his claim weight he further instructed that household snakes be given three days' grace, and only after three days, if they remain, should they be killed as devils. In other words, the poor wife would have had to stand at the door for three days and nights waiting to see whether the snake on the bed was a real snake, a Muslim jinn, or a devil.
Does any angle of this make this religion look like it comes from a heavenly Allah?
Hassan Radwan