Short answer
No, not in the Hanafi school and most scholars. Buying and selling cats is permitted because they are pure animals with real benefit. A hadith in Sahih Muslim mentions the Prophet ﷺ rebuking people for the price of a cat; most scholars read it as encouraging people to give cats freely, not as a ban. Adopting a cat for free or for a shelter fee is best.
Selling a cat is valid and permitted, as it is a pure animal with benefit. Giving cats away freely is better, in line with the hadith.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Jabir was asked about the price of dogs and cats, and said that the Prophet ﷺ rebuked people for it. This hadith is authentic, and it has led some Muslims to think buying a cat is haram.
The Hanafi school, with the Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools, holds that selling a cat is valid. A valid sale needs a pure item with a lawful benefit, and a cat qualifies: it is pure, it keeps away mice and it is kept for company. Al-Nawawi explains that the hadith refers either to a cat with no benefit, or is a gentle discouragement: cats are so common that people should give them to one another freely. A minority, among them the Zahiri scholars, took the hadith literally and forbade the sale.
In practice:
- Adopting from a shelter and paying an adoption fee is fine; the fee usually covers vet care.
- Buying a pedigree kitten is permitted, though giving a home to a cat that needs one is more in the spirit of the hadith.
- Breeding and selling cats is permitted with good care. Breeding that harms the animal's health, or keeping cats in poor conditions for profit, is not.
- Selling a dog is a different question, since dogs have their own rulings. See are Muslims allowed to have dogs.
Whoever you get your cat from, the real test is how you look after it. See can Muslims have cats and is it sunnah to have a cat.
The evidence
Sahih Muslim 1569
Sahih... عن ثمن الكلب والسنور ...
"Jabir was asked about the price of the dog and the cat, and said the Prophet ﷺ rebuked people for it."
The hadith people ask about; most scholars read it as encouraging giving cats freely.
Sunan Abi Dawud 75
Graded hasan sahih... إنها ليست بنجس إنها من الطوافين عليكم ...
"Cats are not impure; they are among those who go around among you."
Cats are pure, which is a condition for a valid sale.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Bada'i al-Sana'i, Kitab al-Buyu', conditions of the item sold. An item may be sold when it is pure and has a lawful benefit.
- Sharh Sahih Muslim (al-Nawawi), Kitab al-Musaqat, chapter on the price of a dog. Explains the hadith on the cat as discouragement or about a cat with no benefit.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.