While the Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) as well as his practical guidance on the prescriptions relating to animal slaughter are rooted in wider concern for the fair treatment of these breathing beings, the reality of everyday life show that these foundational rules are frequently violated as not fully implemented, resulting in cruel treatment to animals and birds during the transportation and handling of the animals at various stages and levels of the cattle-transportation and meat market practices. Many people who believe in fair treatment of animals, criticise and object to the ‘Muslim’ practice of animal slaughter as they see it- without understanding the Islamic teachings and guidance on the pertinent issue.
Reproduced below are two related questions- objections on Islamic ways of slaughtering animals and on meat eating in general- put forward to Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius and the prescient observations made therein by Hazrat Saheb (aba) on the wisdom of Islamic procedures of slaughtering animals as well as the need for respecting the life-balance in this ecosystem by catering to needs while avoiding excesses on all sides of the debate.
Read the Questions and Answers Below:
'At the time of the Muslims
Festival of Sacrifice, animal rights campaigners often raise their objection
claiming that the Muslim way of slaughter is barbaric. What is your reply about
this kind of objection?
Muslims only eat meat where the blood has been
allowed to drain fully from the animal’s body, and this is achieved by cutting
the main artery and windpipe of the animal with a sharp knife, leaving the
spinal cord intact. The lack of oxygen to the brain leads to an immediate
unconsciousness, and whereas the convulsions which can be seen when the heart
pumps out the blood look violent to the onlooker, the animal feels no more
pain. Experiments have shown that this method of slaughter, besides ensuring a
clean quality of meat free of toxics, is also much less painful to the animal
than the prevalent method in western mass production of meat using stunning or
electrocution which, whilst making conveyor belt processing easier and looking
more aesthetic to the observer, is both torturous for the animal and results in
a harmful build-up of toxics in the meat.
But others proclaim that it is wrong for humans to consume meat at all, stating that this violates the rights of animals. What is your opinion on the matter?
Yes, indeed there are those kinds of extremists
among the different groups who go as far as attacking and killing people for
the perceived protection of animal rights, but they miss a crucial point:
Rights must always be balanced by obligations,
so if animals were to be afforded equal rights with humans, they must also be
tasked with looking after other species, a task they are obviously not capable
of. Allah has created the world as a hierarchy. He has given man an exalted
position, where all other creatures are subservient to Him, but with it he has
the obligation not to abuse his position and not to destroy the world entrusted
to him.
Those misguided campaigners who consider the
consumption of animal meat an excess for human beings, should also logically
eradicate all animals which live on the meat of others, as these should not
have the right to kill other creatures for food either, and ultimately such a
perverted logic would destroy the balance of life and eradicate all the finely-tuned
ecosystem which Allah has created interdependently. Animal welfare in Islam
means that we may utilize animals for food and clothing and to do work for us,
but we must adequately look after their needs and avoid excesses. There are
categories of animals which are prohibited as food items, including all carnivorous
animals and pigs. There are numerous reasons for such prohibitions, which is
why hospitals, for example, avoid pork in the diet given to critically-ill
patients, but generally we understand that Allah has permitted for us what is
good and wholesome, and has prohibited what is harmful, even if we don’t always
have full knowledge of the detailed effects of a substance. Indeed, nobody knows
our needs better than our Creator Himself.
Islam also forbids the consumption of anything which might interfere with the perception of our senses or blur our judgement, like alcohol or mind-changing drugs. Because we are all responsible for our deeds, we must ensure that we are in the full possession of our mental capacities. When people come under the influence of narcotics, their judgement of their own abilities also becomes flawed, and Islam thus does not leave it to the individual to decide how much of a particular drug he can handle, but demands complete abstinence. It is often said that such prohibition does not work and that it merely leads to the criminalizing of people who will continue taking drugs. This is true where people do not agree with the reasons for a prohibition, and moral education must play a crucial role in this respect. Due to the internalized religious convictions of the members of a sound Islamic society, society’s welfare is usually achieved by self-regulation of its members rather than by policing them.