Islam and animals

The Qur'an assigns an inferior status to animals in comparison with humans and has a tendency towards anthropocentrism.^[1] It nevertheless strongly enjoins Muslims to treat animals with compassion and not to abuse them. The animals, together with all the creation, are believed to praise God, even if this praise is not expressed in human language (e.g. see Qur'an 17:44).^[2]

The Qur'an explicitly allows the eating of the meat of the animals (see Qur'an 5:1).^[2] Although some Sufis have practiced vegetarianism, but to date, there has been no serious discourse on the possibility of vegetarianism interpretations.^[2] Certain animals can be eaten under the condition that they are slaughtered in a specified way.^[3] Prohibitions include swine, carrion,^[4] and animals slaughtered in the name of someone other than God.^[3] Carnivorous land animals and birds with talons are forbidden. This prohibition does not extend towards marine animals, though Shi'a Muslims only allow marine animals with scales, in addition to shrimp and prawn.

Animals in the pre-Islamic Arabia

Arab bedouin, like other people, attributed the qualities and the faults of humans to animals (e.g. generosity was attributed to the cock, perfidy to the lizard, stupidity to the bustard and boldness to the lion). ^[5]

Based on the facts that the name of certain tribes bear the names of animals, survivals of animal cults, prohibitions of certain foods and other indications, W. R. Smith argued for practice of totemism by certain tribes of Arabia. Others have argued that these evidences may only imply practice of a form of animalism. In support of this, for example, it was believed that upon one's death, the soul departs from the body in the form of a bird (usually a sort of owl). The soul flies for some time around the tomb and on occasion cries out for vengeance. Although Muhammad rejected this belief it lived under Islam in various forms. ^[5]

Qur'an

Although over two hundred verses in the Qur'an deal with animals and six suras (chapters) of the Qur'an are named after the animals, animal life is not a predominant theme in the Qur'an. ^[6] The Arabic term for the "animal" (i.e. haywan) in its only one appearance in the Qur'an means "the true life" and refers to the life in the next world rather than to "animal".^[5]^[6] On the other hand, the Qur'an uses the term dābba which is not typically used in medieval Arabic works on zoology. However, animals are not a major theme of the Qur'an, nor are they described in detail. Animals are usually seen in relation to humans. This has created a tendency towards anthropocentrism.^[6]

The Qur'an applies the word "Muslim" not only to humans but also to animals and the inanimate world. "The divine will manifests itself in the form of laws both in human society and in the world of nature. In Islamic terminology, for example, a bee is a Muslim precisely because it lives and dies obeying the "shariah" that God has prescribed for the community of bees, just as a person is a Muslim by virtue of the fact that he or she submits to the revealed shariah ordained for humans in the Quran and Sunna.^[7]

Although the Qur'an considers humans to occupy the highest place, it nevertheless strongly enjoins Muslims to treat animals with compassion and not to abuse them. The Qur'an states that all creation praises God, even if this praise is not expressed in human language (e.g. see Qur'an 17:44).^[2] In verse Qur'an 6:38, the Qur'an applies the term "ummah", generally used to mean "a human religious community", for genera of animals. Encyclopedia of the Quran states that this verse have been "far reaching in its moral and ecological implications."^[8]

Sunnah

Sunnah refer to the traditional biographies of Muhammad wherein the example of his conduct and sayings attributed to him have been recorded. Sunni and Shi'a hadith differ vastly, with Shi'a hadith generally contain more anthropomorphism and praise of animals.

Treatment of animals

It is forbidden to cage animals, to beat them unnecessarily, to brand them on the face, or to allow them to fight each other for human entertainment. "They must not be mutilated while they are alive."^[9]

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]

A Hadith is reported from Muhammad that he issued advice to kill the sinful (fawasiq) animal within the holy area (haram) of Mecca, such as the rat and the scorpion. Killing animals that are non-domesticated such as zebras and birds in this area is forbidden.^[11]

Views regarding particular animals

Birds

Dogs

The majority of both Sunni and Shi'a Muslim jurists consider dogs to be ritually unclean, though jurists from the Sunni Maliki school disagree.^[13] However, outside their ritual uncleanness, Islamic fatwas, or rulings, enjoin that dogs be treated kindly or else be freed. ^[14]

Muslims generally cast dogs in a negative light because of their ritual impurity. The story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Qur'an (and also role of the dog in early Christianity) is one of the striking exceptions.^[15] Muhammad didn't like dogs according to Sunni tradition, and most practicing Muslims do not have dogs as pets.^[9] It is said that angels do not enter a house which contains a dog. Though dogs are not allowed for pets, they are allowed to be kept if used for work, such as guarding your house or farm, or when used for hunting purposes.

According to a generally unaccepted Sunni tradition attributed to Muhammad, black dogs are evil, or even devils, in animal form. This report reflects the pre-Islamic Arab mythology and the vast majority of Muslim jurists viewed it to be falsely attributed to Muhammad.^[13]

Another Sunni tradition attributed to Muhammad commands Muslims not trade or deal in dogs.^[16] According to El Fadl, this shows the cultural biases against dogs as a source of moral danger.^[13] However, the Hanafi scholars, the largest school of ritual law in Sunni Islam, allow all trading in dogs.

According to one story, Muhammad is said to have informed a prostitute who had seen a thirsty dog hanging about a well and given it water to drink. Allah forgave her because of that good deed. Sahih Bukhari 4.56.673 ^[9]

In a tradition found in the Sunni hadith book, al-Muwatta, Muhammad states that the company of dogs voids a portion of a Muslim’s good deeds.^[17]

Dogs, outside the ritual legal discourse, were often portrayed in the literature as a symbol of highly esteemed virtues such as self-sacrifice and loyalty or on the other hand as an oppressive instrument in the hands of despotic and unjust rulers.^[13]

The historian Montgomery Watt states that Muhammad's kindness to animals was remarkable for the social context of his upbringing. He cites an instance of Muhammed posting sentries to ensure that a female dog with newborn puppies was not disturbed by his army traveling to Mecca in the year 630.^[18]

Camels, sheep, and cats

Muhammad's camel, Qaswa, was very dear to him and so was his cat Muezza.[2].^[19] It is said he loved cats so much that "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was sleeping on it."^[19]

Muhammad is reported as having reprimanded some men who were sitting idly on their camels in a marketplace, saying "either ride them or leave them alone".^[2]^[10]

Muhammad prided himself in being part of a rich tradition of prophets who found their means of livelihood as being shepherds.^[20]

Hyenas, bats, geckos, reptiles, and insects

In Muslim culture and literature some animals such as hyenas, bats, geckos, snakes, and other reptiles as well as insects are considered to represent ugliness, danger, viciousness, and power. Sometimes, the stances on them are ambivalent.^[21] Unusually for predators, Striped hyena meat is considered Halal in the nations of Sistan, Kohat, Bannu, and Cholistan, due to the fact that the animal is an omnivore, rather than a purely carnivorous animal.^[22] In Shi'a Hadith such as Nahj al-Balagha, bats are praised as a miracle of nature. In Sunni Hadith literature, it is reported from Muhammad that he issued advice to kill the sinful (fawasiq) animal even within the holy area (haram) of Mecca.^[23] It is reported in Sunni tradition that Muhammad commanded geckos to be killed and called them 'little noxious creatures'.^[24]

Pigs

According to many verses of the Quran, ( Qur'an 2:173, Qur'an 6:145) the consumption of pork is forbidden, except in extreme circumstances.^[25]

Conversation with animals

In both Sunni and Shi'a accounts, Muhammad is said to have conversed nonchalantly with camels, birds and other species. Shi'a accounts also extend this to include the Imams. In one account, a camel is said to have come to Muhammad and complained that despite service to his owner, the animal was about to be killed. Muhammad summoned the owner and ordered the man to spare the camel.^[26] There are also accounts in Surah an-Naml in the Qur'an of Sulaiman talking to ants ^{Qur'an 27:18} and birds ^{Qur'an 27:20}, and the Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a Imams declared that they could communicate with anything that had a soul.

Hunting and slaughter

Muslims are required to sharpen the blade when slaughtering animals.^[27] 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]

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 ibn Abdul Muttalib (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").^[28]

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")^[28].

Modern debates

The ritual method of slaughter as practiced in Islam and Judaism has been decried as inhumane by some animal welfare organisations in the UK who have stated that it "causes severe suffering to animals."^[29]^[30] 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."^[30]

A study done by Professor Wilhelm Schulze et al. at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Germany concluded that "[t]he slaughter in the form of ritual cut is, if carried out properly, painless in sheep and calves according to the EEG recordings and the missing defensive actions."^[31] This study is cited by the German Constitutional Court in its permitting of dhabiha slaughtering.^[32] 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."^[33]

Notes

^ Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Animal Life
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ 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.
^ "The Magicality of the Hyena: Beliefs and Practices in West and South Asia". Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 57, 1998: 331–344 (June 2008). Retrieved on 23.
^ 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'
^ Schulze W, Schultze-Petzold H, Hazem AS, Gross R. Experiments for the objectification of pain and consciousness during conventional (captive bolt stunning) and religiously mandated (“ritual cutting”) slaughter procedures for sheep and calves. Deutsche Tierärztliche Wochenschrift 1978 Feb 5;85(2):62-6. English translation by Dr Sahib M. Bleher
^ Das Bundesverfassungsgericht
^ Gerald Parsons, The Growth of Religious Diversity: Britain from 1945, Routledge Press, p.69

Contents