In a religious discussion with some secular friends about the sex/intercourse of a human with animals,a hadith of Musnad Ahmed was come in discussion in which the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) ordered to kill both the object and subject involved in such a bitter and big sin.My colleagues claimed that such brutal incidents were present at the time of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH),so that is why He ordered such punishments.I was not agree with their claim because I have firm believe that the people present at that time were the best in the entire mankind till the qay’amah.Please help out me in this matter

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly: 

What you mentioned about your belief in
the purity of the generation of the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with
them) and that they were the best of humanity until the onset of the Hour,
is true. 

The Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with
them) were the purest and most refined of people, and those who feared
Allah, may He be exalted, the most, after the Prophets and Messengers. There
was never and there will never be any like them in virtue. Allah, may He be
exalted, praised them in many verses (of the Qur’an), and the Messenger
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) also praised them in many
hadeeths, some of which were quoted in fatwa no. 83121 

The Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with
them) were not infallible and free of sin; some of them committed a few
sins, on rare occasions, but they were quick to repent and turn back to
Allah, may He be exalted, like a summer cloud that passed over the heart and
overshadowed the realities of faith for a few moments, so it became weak and
was overwhelmed by desires, but once that cloud had passed, the heart was
filled with light once again and hastened to repent to Allah. That
generation was uniquely ideal, even the sinners among them. Read the story
of Maa‘iz and the Ghaamidi woman who committed zina, then when they came to
their senses after committing that sin, they were not content until they
came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and insisted
that he should purify them by carrying out the hadd punishment on them. May
Allah be pleased with them. 

But Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted, protected that generation from those sins which are indicative of
depravity and corruption of human nature, such as the filthy acts of
homosexuality, lesbianism and bestiality. Such acts were definitely not done
by the companions of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him). There is no known report of anyone being brought to the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) because of having committed sins
such as these. 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on
him) said: 

There is no proven report from the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to say that he passed judgement
concerning any case of homosexuality, because this was not known among the
Arabs, and no such case was brought to him (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him). But it is proven that he said: “Execute the one who does it and
the one to whom it is done.” This was narrated by the authors of the four
Sunans, and its isnaad is saheeh. At-Tirmidhi said: It is a hasan
hadeeth. End quote from Zaad al-Ma‘aad (5/36-37) 

A similar example is that of bestiality.
There is no known case of anyone being brought to the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) for having done such an act. The hadeeth that
mentions it does not mean that it happened at the time of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). 

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may
Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: “If you find that someone has had intercourse
with an animal, kill him and kill the animal too.” Narrated by Abu Dawood
(4464) and at-Tirmidhi (1455) – this version was narrated by him. The
scholars differed as to the soundness of this report; some of them classed
it as saheeh and others classed it as da‘eef. 

Even if we assume that it is saheeh, there
is nothing in the hadeeth to suggest that this obscene deed occurred at the
time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for the
following reasons: 

1.    
There is nothing
in the wording of this hadeeth to suggest that any particular person had
done this act.

2.    
The hadeeth says
“If you find that someone has…” Here the Messenger (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) was stating and affirming the shar‘i ruling, and it is
addressed to the entire ummah. It was not addressed specifically to the
Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them). 

To sum up: 

The claim of this secular man – we ask
Allah to guide him – is a false claim which cannot be true. This filthy act
of bestiality did not occur among the pure Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased
with them). 

Secondly: 

Secularism is a corrupt school of thought
and it poses a danger to the religious commitment of the Muslim because the
secularist is not looking for truth; rather he is looking for whatever is in
harmony with his whims and desires. Hence you will find that the secularist
is always looking for specious arguments that he can stir up, but at the
same time he blocks his ears and averts his eyes from the evidence and the
texts of the revelation. 

You should strive to guide this man by
explaining what is wrong with this school of thought (secularism) and how it
is deviant. 

For more information, please see fatwa no.
121550. 

And Allah knows best.