Islam orders Muslims to show due care and kindness to animals. This is part of the mercy of Islam to all living creatures. Allah Almighty addresses the Prophet saying, [Wesent thee not save as a mercy for the beings] (Al-Anbiya’ 21:107).
If it is necessary to dissect frogs for scientific purposes, then there will be nothing wrong with the act but if it is a vivesection, the frog must be dealt with kindly and anaesthetized fully to prevent pain. In addition, it should be killed as soon as the dissection is over.
Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, the prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and author, states the following: The ruling on this issue depends on examining two important issues:
First, the ruling on killing frogs and what the scholars have said about that.
The scholars differed concerning this issue and there are two views:
1. That it is makruh. This is the view of the Maliki school of thought and some of the Shafi`is and Hanbalis. See At-Tamheed (15/178); Sharh al-`Umdah by Ibn Taymiyah (3/148).
2. That it is haram. This is the view of the Hanafi, Shafi`i and Hanbali madhhabs, and of Ibn Hazm, and it is the view favored by Ibn Taymiyah. See Mushkil al-Athaar by At-Tahhawi (2/35); Al-Majmu` (9/29); Al-Mughni (9/338); Al-Muhalla (7/225); Al-Fatawa al-Kubra (2/139).
The evidence for that is the report narrated from `Abdur-Rahman ibn `Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which a doctor asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about using frogs in medicine, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade killing them (Abu Dawud).
Second, if it is necessary to dissect frogs, there is no sin in that, in sha’ Allah. The scholars have ruled that it is permissible to dissect the body of a Muslim for the purposes of criminal investigations or preventative medicine. So it is more likely that it is permissible to dissect the bodies of animals for the purpose of scientific research, if there is a need for that.
Moreover, the student dissecting the animal must treat it properly; he or she should anaesthetize it fully [in case of a vivesection] and hasten to kill it as soon as the dissection is over, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah has prescribed proficiency in all things, so if you kill, kill well, and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let one of you sharpen his blade and spare suffering to the animal” (Muslim).