my practical experience of a lifetime in the field of animal welfare, combined with some theological knowledge, lays a moral responsibility on me to express my views candidly on the current spate of cruelties to animals. The learned theologians generally remain blissfully uninformed on this subject, which is generally beyond the pale of their normal responsibilities. Similarly, the general Muslim public is not fully aware of the scale on which pecuniary, selfish and short-sighted human interests have started exploiting the animal kingdom and are playing havoc with the ecological balance.
The most alarming and distressing predicament of this deplorable state of affairs is that our Islamic countries too have started treading in the footsteps of the West in the name of commerce and trade. No doubt we have a lot to learn from Western technology and science, but surely animal welfare and environmental conservation is not one of these subjects.
The Islamic instruction and guidance on animal rights and man’s obligations concerning them are so comprehensive that we need not go elsewhere for any guidance. As believers in the consummate and conclusive revelation of God, we are expected to learn from the misconceptions of the past and cast behind us the parochial approach to religion. Fourteen centuries is a long enough period to grasp mentally the fact that the way (Dīn) to spiritual development does not lie in ritualistic observance and the hair-splitting of the Law (Sharīʿah). Surely it is a long enough period to liberate ourselves from the pre-Islamic traits of our respective cultures.
Not to be cruel or even to be condescendingly kind to the so-called inferior animals is a negative proposition. Islam wants us to think and act in the positive terms of accepting all species as communities like us in their own right and not to sit in judgement on them according to our human norms and values.
I hope and pray that my Muslim brethren will fully appreciate the points I have touched upon here, after reading this book.
Although the whole of the book deals with the central theme of the welfare of animals and their relative status vis-à-vis man, each of the chapters has been treated as a subject on its own. Notwithstanding this, some overlapping could not be avoided. I therefore request that you do not hazard an opinion on any point before reading the complete book.
Al-Hafiz Basheer Ahmad Masri
i. In Islam the dates are not given as A.D., Anno Domini, means “The year of our Lord”. We prefer A.C. – Anno Christum, Christ(s) being accepted as Messenger of God rather than the Lord.
ii. S. = It is considered meritorious and obligatory for a Muslim to pronounce a reverential Salām whenever the name of a Messenger of God is uttered or written. ‘S’ stands for ‘peace be upon him’, in Arabic Ṣallal-Lāhu ʿalayhi wa Sallam.
iii. A.H. = Anno Hijrae, i.e. the year of migration when the Holy Prophet Muḥammad(s) had to migrate from Makka to Madina in 622 A.C. This date has been established as the first year of the Islamic era.
iv. Ḥadīth (plural: Aḥādīth), i.e. words and deeds (Sunnah) of the Holy Prophet Muḥammad(s).
v. References = In the Ḥadīth and other references at the end of each chapter, the name of the book has been printed in italics.
The Qur’ānic references have been given in the text after the quotation. The first figure stands for chapter and the second for verse. In some English translations the numbers of verses may be different. In that case, please look for the verse one or two numbers above or below. In this book verse numbers have been taken from the English translation by A.Yusuf Ali; 1938; Sh.Muhammad Ashraf, Kashmiri Bazar, Lahore, Pakistan.
vi. The references to the Old and New Testaments are from The Bible (Authorised Version), University Press, Oxford, 1955.
vii. ‘Muslim’ means one who submits to God. Believers in Islam prefer to be called ‘Muslims’ and not ‘Muḥammadans’, nor to be known by any other names or spellings.
The Affinity between Man and Beast
“In the region of existing matter, the mineral kingdom comes lowest, then comes the vegetable kingdom, then the animal, and finally the human being. By his body he (man) belongs to the material world but by his soul he appertains to the spiritual or immaterial. Above him are only the purely spiritual beings – the angels – above whom only is God: THUS THE LOWEST IS COMBINED BY A CHAIN OF PROGRESS TO THE HIGHEST. But the human soul perpetually strives to cast off the bonds of matter, and, becoming free, it soars upwards again to God, from whom it emanated.” (Al-Hazen)1
“Dying from the inorganic, we developed into the vegetable kingdom:
Dying from the vegetable, we became men.
Then what fear that death will lower us?
The next transition will make us angels.
From angels we shall rise and become what no mind can conceive;
We shall merge in affinity as in the beginning.
Have we not been told, ‘All of us shall return unto Him’?” (Rūmī)2
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS has existed throughout the ages. It takes various forms and guises, from cockfighting to cat burning, from sheer overloading of beasts of burden to downright neglect and abuse. Animals have died, and are dying, harsh deaths in traps and snares to provide fur coats and ornaments for the wealthy, and they have been hunted throughout the world for the sheer sport and morbid pleasure of man. However, until very recently the acts of cruelty were on a smaller and individual scale. What has changed now is the nature and extent of the cruelty, which is practised on a much subtler and wider scale. The most alarming aspect of the current streak of cruelty is that it is being justified in the name of human needs and spurious science. Scientific and pharmaceutical experiments on animals are being done to find cures for diseases most of which are self-induced by our own disorderly lifestyle.
To satisfy his ever-increasing demands and fads, man has begun to use his technological might and scientific prowess to transform increasing numbers of animals into food products. In laboratories, scientists are producing new genetic variations that may be amenable to low cost intensive methods of rearing. Many stock-keepers are more concerned with finance than the moral principles of animal husbandry, and look upon their livestock as meat and milk machines.
Even the once proud farmers have started yielding to temptation. The medieval sport of the feudal nobility to chase and kill animals for fun is still in vogue. Anglers hook up fish, and throw them back into the water maimed – just to while away their time. All kinds of denizens of the forest are fair game for the trophy-hunters.
