“Meat-eating is neither encouraged nor recommended by Islam as far as I am aware. Any reader is free to correct me if I am wrong. “Say O Mohammad, I find not in what has been revealed to me any food forbidden to those who wish to eat it, unless it is carrion or which has been slaughtered in anybody’s name other than that of Allah. It is noteworthy that these laws have been laid down for those who wish to eat meat”. Eating meat is not required and not compulsory according to Islam.”_________________________
by Dr D.P.Atukorale
(April 20, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Prophet Mohammad had an overwhelming concern for animal rights and their general welfare and as far as I am aware, factory farming and other methods of cruelty to animals are condemned in Islam.
There is no suggestion in the Quran or in any other Islamic source as far as I am aware, that eating meat is good for physical or spiritual health. This reminds me of a statement made by a Muslim in a news journal that “Muslims will always eat meat for it is a bounden duty for them to slaughter animals and feed the poor during Haj and even at other times it is considered a highly meritorious act to feed the poor with meat.” As far as I am aware, the Prophet was not a meat eater. Most of his meals did not contain meat. Traditionally the Muslims did not eat cow meat; they ate sheep and lamb meat when they did eat meat. Those who eat meat are urged in the Quran to eat in moderation (Quran 7:31, 5:87) Furthermore, there are stringent laws governing the overall treatment, their rearing and breeding, the pre-slaughter and handling during and after slaughter. The Holy Prophet has named the killing of animals without justification as one of the major sins.
“Avoid ye the seven obnoxious things (deadly sins): polytheism, magic, the killing of breathing beings”
The Arabic word for “breathing beings is nafs. Arabic dictionaries give the meaning of nafs as ruh (soul) since they are breathing creatures i.e all species of animals. Ahadath which speaks of the sanctity of life as a whole declares animals as possessing a soul (ruh) and place animals physically on par with human beings. Any reader is free to correct me if he or she thinks I am wrong and if possible quote from the Holy Quran or any other Islamic book. The Quran applies the word “Muslim” not only to humans but also to animals and the inanimate world. In Islamic terminology a bee is a Muslim, precisely because iit lives and dies obeying the Shariah that God has prescribed for the community of bees (Encyclopedia of science and Religion, Islam P 464).
Forbidden Foods According to the Quran
These are (1) alcohol (2) pork (3) carnivorous animals and birds e.g. lions, tigers, vultures, eagles (4) other animals such as donkeys, elephants (5) any other animal that has died due to natural causes, was killed by a wild animal, by fall or blow, or sacrificed for some God or Goddess by pagans is also forbidden (6) blood is forbidden and (7) drugs are also forbidden (except as medical drugs).
Meat-eating is neither encouraged nor recommended by Islam as far as I am aware. Any reader is free to correct me if I am wrong. “Say O Mohammad, I find not in what has been revealed to me any food forbidden to those who wish to eat it, unless it is carrion or which has been slaughtered in anybody’s name other than that of Allah. It is noteworthy that these laws have been laid down for those who wish to eat meat”. Eating meat is not required and not compulsory according to Islam.
God’s Messenger was reported as saying, “Allah who is blessed and exalted has prescribed benevolence towards everything. So when you must slaughter an animal, you should sharpen your knife so as to cause the animal as little pain as possible” (Shaddad Aus Muslim Vol 2 Chapter II, section on “slaying” 10: 739 verse 15.1)
The Messenger of Allah was heard forbidding to keep waiting a quadruped or any other animal for slaughter. The Prophet forbade all living creatures to be slaughtered while tied up and bound (Hadith No 4817, P 1079) Hazrat Imam Ali says, “Do not slaughter sheep in the presence of sheep or any animal in the presence of other animals.”
According to Islam, if animals are subjected to cruelty in their breeding, transport, slaughter or in general welfare (e.g. by not giving water to the animals if they are thirsty) meat from them is considered impure and unlawful (Haram). The flesh of animals killed by cruel methods is carrion and their flesh is forbidden according to Islam.
When we were taken to an abattoir by our Colombo Medical School teachers in 1959, we very sadly watched a long queue of cattle (including pregnant cows) made to stand in a queue. The cattle made to queue up were groaning, tearing and passing urine and faecal matter when those animals saw “the very cruel ways the other cattle were slaughtered and their carotid arteries and neck veins were severed and skinned while they were alive. It is noteworthy that animals possess emotions and feel for their brethren who are mercilessly slaughtered in their presence?
The animals were skinned alive by the butchers who used to chant a prayer prior to slaughter and none of the medicos who were taken to the abattoir ate beef after watching this type of so-called humane slaughter.
What is said in the Holy Quran is quite different from the “humane” slaughter of animals we see in Sri Lanka.
Stunning Animals before Slaughter
Al-Azhar University in Cairo appointed a special committee consisting of representatives of four acknowledged schools of thought in Islam i.e. Shafi, Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali. The unanimous verdict (fatwa) of the committee was: “Muslim countries by approving the above method of slaughtering have no religious objection in their way. This is lawful as long as the new means are Shar (Ahadd) and clean and do cause bleeding”. (Museelah al-damm) If the new means of slaughtering are quicker and sharp their employment is a more desirable thing (The History of Azhar, Cairo, 1964, PP 361 - 363).
In January 1986, a MWL member of the United Nations UNESCO and UNICEF, held a meeting with the World health Organisation (WHO) and made the following recommendation, about pre-slaughter stunning: Pre-Slaughter stunning by electric shock, if proven to lessen the animal’s suffering is lawful provided it is carried out with the weakest electric current that renders the animal unconscious and that it neither leads to the animal’s death nor renders its meat harmful to the consumer.
As I informed readers on an earlier occasion, the Prophet was not a meat eater and most of his meals did not contain meat. A lot of famine in the world is a direct result of the over-consumption of meat in countries such as the United States, Canada and Europe because the amount of grains needed to produce one pound of meat is much greater than the amount you need to produce grain itself (Beyond Beef by Rifkar). Beef eating sources have a massive impact on the environment, or natural resources and on all these things and traditionally the Muslims are not cattle eaters and they were sheep and lamb eaters when they did eat meat.
Richard C Foltz, Professor of Religious Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, states that the Quran aims to enjoin compassion in the treatment of animals but only a few Muslims have made the observation that not slaughtering animals is the most compassionate one.
According to the Quran, “There is not an animal (that lives) on earth, or a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. (Sura 24:41) Therefore Muslims must not eat any animal that has been mistreated. (Al raqib al Isfahani, CE, Mahadarat al-Udaba, 1:610)
Hanas Yusuf on eating meat: “Meat is not a necessity in Shariah and in the old days most Muslims used to eat meat, if they were wealthy like the middle class - once a week on Friday. If they were poor - on the Eids”. So traditionally Muslims were semi vegetarians and the Prophet was in that category.
Sayyidina Umar says, “Beware of meat because it has an addiction like the addiction of wine.”
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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