http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=98607&d=17&m=7&y=2007&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion
Tuesday, 17, July, 2007 (02, Rajab, 1428)
How Islam Views Animal Rights
Muhammad Abed Al-Jabri, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
A very detailed and appropriate description of animal rights is present
in Islam. Even a cursory look at the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon
him) would show how Islam gave animals their rights at a time (more than 1,400
years ago) when such a concept was just unthinkable or totally unknown.
The Prophet's teachings explain how a man should deal with the other
creatures on the earth. Even kindness to the hungry animals is treated on par
with great acts of piety that redeem a believer from grievous sins and earns
the Almighty's pleasure. It shows that animal rights are no less important than
human rights in Islam.
The Islamic law lays down a general outline of how a man should deal with
the animals under his control. It is his religious duty to feed and care for
the animals he owns and he should lavish the same love and care, if not more,
on them when they get old or sick. He should not overwork his domestic animals
or burden them with more load than they can easily carry. An animal's safety
should also be its owner's concern. He should not allow a weak or sick animal
to mix with other animals.
The Prophet was so much concerned about animals that he ordered the
believers to use sharp knives and not blunt ones while slaughtering animals so
as to minimize the pain and discomfort to them. An animal should not be skinned
or its bones broken before it is completely dead. The act of slaughtering
should not be done in the presence of its progeny. A hunting sling should not
be used to kill an ordinary animal. Nor should it be hurled from a height or
thrown with hard substances.
The concept of "ehsan" (benevolence) contained in the Islamic law is the
basis of the rights of animals. The ehsan to animals means providing them with
food, letting them graze until satiation, being gentle with them while loading
them with weight or working in some other ways and not demanding of them more
than they can deliver. The female animals should be milked in such a way that
their young ones should have enough to drink. The law also implies that the
animals should be treated with kindness when they fall sick. If someone finds
an animal being gored or harmed by other animals he should separate them.
According to an authenticated saying of the Prophet, providing water to animals
is an act for which you can expect God's reward. And the Holy Qur'an says:
"Whoever does an atom's weight of charity would find its reward." (Al-Zilzal,
Verse 7).
Religious scholars cite the famous Hadith, "whoever sees an evil let him
change it by his hand..." to argue that it is quite right to cast away the
extra burden on the back of an animal if anybody overloads it.
Islam underscores the need for being gentle and kind toward animals,
whether domesticated or wild. Allah forgave an immoral woman of all her sins
for taking water to a dying dog and quenching its thirst, according to a Hadith.
According to another quoted by Al-Bukhari, the Prophet told his
companions that they should slow down while traversing fertile lands so that
their riding animals could graze to their fill. While traveling in very hot
weather, one should pass along as quickly as possible so that the animals do
not get tired in harsh environment.
According to another Hadith, spending on one's animals is the same as
spending on one's family or in the way of God.
The life of the Prophet is replete with instances of kindness to animals
that is the role model for all the Muslims in the world. Once he declared that
a woman would endure (Hell) Fire because she was cruel to a cat and starved it
to death.
On another occasion, the Prophet was so angry when he saw a donkey with a
brand on its face that he cursed the man who did it to the animal. The Prophet
prohibited shooting at an animal that is tied or confined. He warned his people
against killing ants by narrating the story of a prophet who was admonished by
God for killing a host of ants just because an ant bit him.
Abubakr Muhammad ibn Zakaria Al-Razi, better known as Rhazes (865 AD -
925 AD), who is ranked as one of the greatest physicians and philosophers in
the Islamic history, condemned the hunting of animals for pleasure and other
kinds of cruelty to animals. He argued that pastimes such as hunting should be
undertaken with care and kindness. However, he did not object to killing
animals and reptiles, which posed a threat to other animals and humans.
This gives you an idea of how Muslims in the Middle Ages or before that
looked at animals. Now that several Arab and Muslim governments have decided to
include the study of human rights in the school curriculum, may I suggest that
they include the study of animal rights as well. That alone would save several
animals from total extinction.
- Muhammad Abed Al-Jabri is a Moroccan writer
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