Animal Rights And Welfare In Islam – By Adekunle Mikail

By Dr Adekunle Mikail

“…Nothing (important) is left unsaid(whether by omission or commission) in the book of Allah ” _the noble Qur’an 6:38

As the verse of the noble Qur’an above indicates, there is nothing left undiscussed in islam-ology! And alas, one of such things is kindness to Animals! Yes goodness to animals, affection, boon and courtesy to them!

In the first stance, Allah the most High, created insects, birds,animals and all other living and nonliving things on this earth for man, so that they can make good use of them for their own benefits, in this world.

However, Allah did not give human beings the right to harm or misuse any creature, be it animal or insect.

Instead, He Has commanded the Muslims, in some areas, generally, and in others, specifically, to be good, lenient and benevolent to all creatures!

Generally, Allah says:
” Kill yourself not,indeed Allah is with you a benevolent God” . Qur’an 4:29

The prophet has said:” Allah is with the benevolent of men, a benevolent God ”

Specifically, in the Quran we read,:” There is no creature(animal, plant, fish etc) on the surface of the earth, nor bird which flies in the sky, unless they are communities like you (man) , alas, there is nothing left undiscussed in the book (Qur’an)!” – Qur’an 6:38

As indicated above, animals and birds are communities like man, therefore, they should be accorded their rights and shown benevolence to by man.

They should be cared for by whoever wants to rear them. In Islam, if you want to rear animal, you must house them and feed them day and night.

But if you are well disposed to feed them properly, Islamic tradition wants you to untie them and allow them to roam, so that they will find food by themselves!

Prophet Muhammad(saw) had proven to be an unequalled benevolent to man and animal, as he had demonstrated this innate goodness to man and animal many times both in words and deeds.

Forexamples, the prophet salla-llahu alehi wasalam , once while on a journey, went to relieve himself.

During that time,some of his companions took chicks away from their mother,who started to circle them, flapping her wings.When the prophet (saw,) returned and saw her,he looked at his companions and asked:

”Who has distressed this bird over her chicks should return the chicks to the bird!”

Besides, once the prophet (saw) saw that an ant’s nest had been set on fire.He had asked his companions who were present : ”who burnt this nest? ” One of the companions answered: ”I did it.

” The prophet was riled and very upset and said: “No one is allowed to punish with fire except the Lord of fire!” It is from this Hadith that the jurisprudent have ruled and preferred shaving of animals hide and skin to burning them, even after they had been killed with Islamic gentle and moderate manners!

Another time, the prophet passed two men who were having a conversation while sitting on their camels.

When he saw this, he showed compassion towards the two animals and prevented their owners from using them as chairs! In other words, you should only ride your camel when there is a need to do so.

And whenever you have fulfilled your need, dismount and let it rest.The prophet(saw) had also forbidden branding animals on their faces!

The prophet (saw) has also said :” Do not cut off the forelock of the horse for decency is attached to its forelock; nor its mane, for it protects it; nor its tail, for it is its fly-flap!”

Islam has never encouraged or preached violence to man not to talk of animal.

Animals are to be taken good care of while kindness to them is a must in the Islamic religion. Anything contrary to this is unislamic!

Avoiding Harming Animals
Harming an animal is a sin in Islam and it carries punishment with Allah. The noble prophet Muhammad (saw) has told us the following: “A woman was damned for her evil treatment of a cat.She had tied it up, and it died of hunger for she gave it no food to eat nor untied it so that it could eat insects or reptiles of the earth as its food” – Bukhari and Muslim.

One of the highest forms of cruelty melted out to animals in this region of the world is setting up rams against other rams to fight while bets are placed on them! In the first place, all forms of cruelty,barbarity, savagery and suffering are prohibited to animals in Islam.

Man is only allowed to use animals for domestic purposes, for eating their flesh and for transport. Therefore, he should not kill any insect,bird or animal except for food or when it becomes dangerous or harmful to him!

The holy prophet once said :”One who kills even a sparrow or anything smaller, without a justifiable reason, will be answerable to Allah.

“When asked what would be a justifiable reason, he replied:’ To slaughter it for food_ Ahmad and Al-Nasaiy narrated the Hadith.

As for using animal, money or property for betting, this is condemned outrightly in islamology! As betting is one of the plots of the accursed Satan,which he deploys to cause enmity, hatred and bad blood among the people!

And when a human deems an animal to be set up against one another in the name of earning a profit, it is considered the highest mode of inhumanity towards a creature of the Almighty! Muslims are therefore warn from setting up animals to fight each other!

How to Use Animals for Transport
Despite, the advancement, ease and comfort which is brought by the modern transport system, some countries and regions of the worlds are still using animals for transportation.

This may be as a result of cultural milieu of the region ,the weather condition and availability of certain animals which are moulded for transportation by the Creator which are common in that area!

For example, most people living in the arid and desert regions of the earth are still in the use of donkey, mules, cow etc for transportation of men and agricultural products from one area to others!

Therefore, Islam has advised that when anyone uses animal for transport , he should not overload it or over work it. He should give it ample time to rest and enough food to eat.Once the Holy prophet passed by a camel which was so thin and weak and that its back had shrunk to its belly.He remarked:

” Fear God on these beasts; ride them in good health and free them from work when they are still in good health” _Hadith reported by Abu Dawud.

In Islam too, domestic animals and birds are only allowed to be housed or caged. Wild birds are not to be caged. The prophet (saw) has said that : “it is a great sin for a man to imprison animals which are under his power.”

A Muslim must, therefore, take good care of his domestic birds and animals. He should not arrange a fight between cocks, rams or cows because the prophet( saw), has prohibited the setting up of animals to fight each other!

The Qur’an On Water For Animals
As parts of animal welfare in Islam, the glorious Qur’an has come up with four groups of verses in her reference which deal with water for animals.

This has gone a long way to show the attitude of Islam to animal welfare in this our life. The first group speak of the rains sent down for animals and human beings on equal basis. It reads:

” …and We send down purifying water from the sky, that We may give life thereby to a dead land, and We give many beasts and men that We had created to drink thereof… ” – Qur’an 25:48-49.

We can see that in the verse above, animals are mentioned first, and they have a “fair share” in the waters that are sent.

A second set of verses refers to water for domesticated animals, especially livestock. Water is provided by Allah , “… for you and your cattle” ( Qur’an 79:33, 80:32).

Here, special recognition is given to the animals which serve human beings . In addition to being a wonderful fact of life, the provision of water is a sign (ayat) for human beings:

” Have they not seen how we lead the water to the barren land and wherewith bring forth crops whereof their cattle eat, and they themselves! Will they not then see? ( 32:27).

A third set of verses deals with the story of Moses and the sheepherdesses of Midian. When Moses came to the oasis of Midian, he saw two women with their flocks, standing at a distance from the water , prevented from approaching by the many shepherds there ( 28:22-28).

Moses took their flocks and watered them , and for righting this wrong, he was rewarded by their father. Qur’an commentators have regarded the denial of water as a wrong against the animals as well as the owners.

The final example is exemplified by the verse which tells the story of an Islamic tribe known as the Thamud who demanded a sign from Allah.

The sign was a she- camel whom the Thamud were commanded to treat properly and give a fair share of food and water. Instead, they denied her those things and hamstrung her, for which they were destroyed by an earthquake. Allah says :

” He said: Behold this she-camel as a test for them; so watch them and have patience; And inform them that the water is to be shared between her and them. Every drinking will be withnessed” (Qur’an 54:27-28).

What all these point to is the place of animal welfare in Islam. In it, animals are to be cared for as man cares for his kin and kith!

Islam And Rules Concerning The Slaughter Of Animals
The humane slaughter of animals is strongly supported in the Islamic tradition. For example, sahih Muslim ( Book 21, Chapter 11, Number 4810) records prophet Muhammad (salla-llahu alehi wasalam) saying:

” Verily Allah has enjoined goodness to everything , so when you kill, kill in a good way and when you slaughter , slaughter in a good way. So every one of you should sharpen his knife, and let the slaughtered animal die comfortably. ”

Prophet Muhammad (salla-llahu alehi wasalam) has also said , ” when one of you slaughters, let him complete it”, meaning that one should sharpen the knife well and feed, water , and soothe the animal before killing it”.

He also said ,” Do you intend on inflicting death on the animal twice _ once by sharpening the knife within its sight , and once by cutting its throat?”

Islam has also laid down other rules for humane slaughter as indicated by a combination of ahadith, including the following:

– Animals should have a pre-slaughter rest, and be well fed and well looked after at the point of slaughter

-The animals must be alive or deemed to be alive at the time of slaughter

– Slaughter must be performed by a Muslim who is of sound mind, mature and fully understands the Islamic procedure and conditions for slaughtering animals.

– Animals that are slaughtered should be securely restrained, particularly the head and neck, before cutting the throat.

– Operator competence is of great importance in order to carry out satisfactorily halal slaughter.

– Tools and other implements used must be for slaughter of halal animals only.

– The knife must be razor sharp and without blemishes and damage.

For animals with normal necks,the act of slaughter must begin with an incision on the animal ‘s neck just before the glottis, and for animals with long necks such as chicken, turkeys, ostriches, camels , etc, the incision must be before the glottis.

– The animal’s trachea and esophagus must be severed . The spinal cord should not be cut and uttering the phrase ” Bismillah Allahu-Akbar” immediately before the slaughtering is compulsory .

– The slaughtering must be done once only. The slaughtering implement must not be lifted off the animal during slaughtering. Any lifting is construed as one act of slaughter. Multiple acts of slaughter on one animal are prohibited.

– Slaughter the animal in such a way its life departs quickly , and it is not left to suffer.

– Slaughtering must be spontaneous and complete.

– Animals should not be shackled and hoisted before bleeding. It is should be done only after the animal has lost consciousness.

Restraining equipment should be comfortable for the animal

– Further preparation and dressing of the carcass must be delayed until all signs of life and cerebral reflex have disappeared.

Regarding stunning, Al-Masri notes that stunning has been declared as acceptable by a fatwa (unanimous verdict) of the Al-Azhar University Cairo.

Furthermore, the Muslim World League declared in 1986 that pre-slaughter stunning is lawful when the weakest electric current renders a nonhuman animal unconscious before slaughtering.

Eating meat produced using cruel methods violayes the prophet Muhammad’s general precept to cause animal no pain before their slaughtering, as well as more specific injunctions regarding the treatment of food animals.

Indeed , if animals have been subjected to cruelty in transport and slaughter, or to general cruelty, meat from them is considered by Islam as impure and unlawful to eat ( Makrooh).

The flesh of animals killed by cruel methods ( Al-Muthiah) is carrion ( Al- Mujaththamah ) .

Even if these animals have been slaughtered in the strictest Islamic manners, if cruelties we’re otherwise inflicted on them, their flesh is still forbidden ( Haram) food. Qur’an 23:51 reads:

” Oh ye Messengers! Eat of the good things ( tayyibat) and do righteous deeds. Surely , I know what you do”.

The word ”Tayyib” , translated as “good”, ” pure” or ” wholesome” , means “pure”, both in the physical and moral sense.

In summary, the main cousel of Islam for the slaughter of animals for good is to do it in the least painful manner.

All the Islamic laws on the treatment of animals, including the method of slaughter are based on compassion, fellow-feeling ,and benevolence.

An Ideal:
One Hadith quotes prophet Muhammad (salla-llahu alehi wasalam) as saying:

” A good deed done to animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as that of cruelty to a human being”