Islam and animals
Muslims are required to sharpen the blade when slaughtering animals.[26] Muhammad is reported to have said:"For [charity shown to] each creature which has a wet heart (i.e. is alive), there is a reward."[2] Muhammad opposed recreational hunting saying: "whoever shoots at a living creature for sport is cursed."[2] He is also reported to have said: "There is no man who kills [even] a sparrow or anything smaller, without its deserving it, but Allah will question him about it [on the judgment day]," and "Whoever is kind to the creatures of God, is kind to himself."[2][10]
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Muslim culture
Usually in Muslim culture animals have names (one animal may be given several names), which are often interchangeable with names of people. Muslim names like asad and ghadanfar (Arabic for lion), shir and arslan (Persian and Turkish for lion, respectively) are common in the Muslim world. Prominents Muslims with animal names include: hamza bin abdulmuttalib (called "Asad Allah", God's lion), Abdul-Qadir Gilani (called "al-baz al-ashhab", the white falcon) and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan (called "red falcon").[27]
Islamic literature contains many stories of animals. Arabic and Persian literature boast a large number of animal fables. The most famous, kalilah was Dimnah, translated into Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffa in the 8th century, was also known in Europe. In the 12th century Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawadi wrote many short stories of animals. At about the same time, in north-Eastern Iran, Farid al-Din Attar composed the epic poem Mantiq al-Tayr (meaning "The Discourses of the Birds")[27].
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Modern debates
The ritual method of slaughter as practiced in Islam and Judaism has been decried as inhumane by government-funded animal welfare authorities in the UK who have stated that it "causes severe suffering to animals."[28][29] Cattle require up to two minutes to bleed to death when such means are employed, according to the Chairperson of the Farm Animal Welfare Council Judy MacArthur Clark. She adds, "This is a major incision into the animal and to say that it doesn't suffer is quite ridiculous." Majid Katme of the Muslim Council of Britain disagrees, stating that "[i]t's a sudden and quick haemorrhage. A quick loss of blood pressure and the brain is instantaneously starved of blood and there is no time to start feeling any pain."[29] This study is cited by the German Constitutional Court in its permitting of dhabiha slaughtering.[30] Muslims and Jews have also argued that the in the traditional British methods of slaughter, "animals are sometimes rendered physically immobile, although with full consciousness and sensation. The application of a sharp knife in shechita and dhabh, by contrast, ensures that no pain is felt: the wound inflicted is clean, and the loss of blood causes the animal to lose consciousness within seconds."[31]
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Notes
- ^ Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Animal Life
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, Islam, Animals, and Vegetarianism
- ^ a b Ghamidi (2001): The Dietary Laws
- ^ Esposito (2002b), p.111
- ^ a b c Hayawān, Encyclopedia of Islam
- ^ a b c Animal life, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
- ^ Encyclopedia of Science and Religion, Islam,p.464
- ^ Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Community and Society and Qur'an, Vol. 1, p.371
- ^ a b c Susan J. Armstrong, Richard G. Botzler, The Animal Ethics Reader, p.237, Routledge (UK) Press
- ^ a b c Encyclopedia of Islam, Haywan article, p.308, vol.3, p.308
- ^ Jürgen Wasim Frembgen, Völkerkundemuseum. "The Scorpion in Muslim Folklore". Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 63, 2004: 95-123. Munich, Germany.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=zQjKHj0vA1IC&pg=PA333&lpg=PA333&dq=nahjul'balagha+peacock&source=web&ots=AyG4YZBblI&sig=FHUnF72gCdDKIiypQ0WQSJ-r3dQ&hl=en#PPA334,M1
- ^ a b c d http://www.scholarofthehouse.org/dinistrandna.html Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, s.v. "Dogs in the Islamic Tradition and Nature." New York: Continuum International, forthcoming 2004. By: Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl
- ^ ['Aalim Network QR] Dogs / Pets
- ^ David Gordon White, Encyclopedia of religion, Dog, p.2393
- ^ Ahmad Ibn Shu‘ayb al-Nisa’i, Sunan al-Nisa’i (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, n.d.), 7: 309 (The commentaries by al-Suyuti and al-Sanadi are in the margins). Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 4:426. All reported in El Fadl.
- ^ Malik Ibn Anas, al-Muwatta’ (Egypt: al-Babi al-Halabi, n.d.), 2:969. Reported in El Fadl
- ^ Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press, 1961, [1]
- ^ a b Minou Reeves, Muhammad in Europe, New York University (NYU) Press, p.52
- ^ see Shepherd
- ^ Jürgen Wasim Frembgen, Völkerkundemuseum. "The Scorpion in Muslim Folklore". Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 63, 2004: 95-123. Munich, Germany.
- ^ Jürgen Wasim Frembgen, Völkerkundemuseum. "The Scorpion in Muslim Folklore". Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 63, 2004: 95-123. Munich, Germany.
- ^ Sahih Muslim; Chapter 35 Book 26, Number 5562
- ^ Esposito (2002b), p.111
- ^ Foltz (2006), pg.22-23
- ^ P. Aarne Vesilind, Alastair S. Gunn, Engineering, Ethics, and the Environment, Cambridge University Press, p.301
- ^ a b Annemarie Schimmel. Islam and The Wonders of Creation: The Animal Kingdom. Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2003. Pages 2-4
- ^ Halal killing may be banned | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited
- ^ a b BBC NEWS | UK | Halal and Kosher slaughter 'must end'
- ^ Das Bundesverfassungsgericht
- ^ Gerald Parsons, The Growth of Religious Diversity: Britain from 1945, Routledge Press, p.69
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References
- El Fadl, Khaled Abou (2004). Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, s.v. “Dogs in the Islamic Tradition and Nature.” New York:. Continuum International.
- Foltz, Richard C. (2006). Animals in Islamic Tradition and Muslim Cultures. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-398-4.
- Gill, H.A.R.. Shorter Enclyopaedia of Islam.
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See also
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External links
- Islam and dogs
- Muslim Group Supports Student’s Right to Service Dog
- The great Arab-Muslim-American dog story
- video regarding compasion for animals by late Imam B.A. Hafiz al-Masri, from the Woking Mosque in the United Kingdom
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