171. Is slaughtering animals for food justified.
These verses of the Quran (2:173, 5:3, 5:4, 6:118, 6:119, 6:121, 6:145, 11:69, 16:5, 16:14, 16:115, 22:28, 22:36, 23:21, 35:12, 36:72, 40:79, 51:27) man is permitted to slaughter creatures for his food. Some believe this permission to slaughter animals is against compassion for animals. On an in -depth analysis we come to understand the benefits mankind derives from this food habit.
Those who say slaughter of animals for food is cruelty on animals are duty bound to clarify many points regarding this.
1. Those who term it as cruelty to animals, must explain the use of cattle in agricultural activities ,and other load bearing works the cattles are subjected to.
2. Those who term it as cruelty to animals, deprive the calves of milk from the mother cow and consume it themselves.Is this not cruelty to the animal in itself.
3. It has been scientifically proven the plants have life.Isn’t then consuming vegetables a cruel action against plants with life.
4. There are millions of living organisms in the water we drink. Isn’t drinking water a cruel action against those living organisms..
5. Isn’t killing mosquitoes ,scorpions, snakes by man for selfish reasons a cruel act against such animals.
Those who say that slaughtering animals for food is cruel need to ponder about man’s act against these.
If the reason given by these people not to consume meat is cruelty, they must spell out the reason for avoiding the meat of dead animals and fishes.
Can the people living in the arctic, where only fish is available survive with this kind of food policy.
These people who avoid meat, consume fish oil for their sharp eyesight.Does their conscience permit this.
Hence the reason put forward by these people citing cruelty to animals is false.
The intestine and the stomach of humans are organized to digest vegetarian food as well as meat.
If the thinking of men is on these lines, then human reasoning accepts the slaughtering of animals for food .
Due to the blind following of the beliefs of their ancestors and false reasonings, these people cite cruelty to animals to avoid meat in their food.
It has been proved scientifically that animals do not suffer any grueling pain ,when they are slaughtered the Islamic way.
The non Muslims who opt for meat food, kill the animals in various ways like drowning them, or wringing their necks, or by beating them with a thick stick ,or killing them with a spear.
Islam reprimands all these kinds of killings of animals for food.It says to slaughter animals by cutting their throats with a very sharp knife,distending the jugular veins that carry blood to the brain.
Because of the blood supply to the brain is cut the animal does not feel much of the pain ,and recent scientific studies show that the slaughtered animals keep kicking not because of pain but due the ejection of blood through the blood vessels of various parts.
A study was conducted by Professor Schultz and his assistant researcher Doctor Hassim of University of Hannover in Germany.
We give below the details of their study.
1) The animals to be slaughtered were selected..
2) By surgery electronic receptors were inserted in many parts of their brain.
3) Once they gained conscious they were left alone for many weeks.
4) Then half the animals were slaughtered the Islamic way.
5) The other half were handled the western type of stunning and killed.
6).All the animals were analyzed for their EEG, and ECG recordings.
Now let’s look into the test results and explanations.
When the animals were slaughtered the Islamic Halal way there were no changes in the EEG recordings for the first three seconds proving the animals did not suffer any pain during slaughter with recordings without any changes.
2) The next three seconds the EEG recorded a deep unconsciousness or a deep sleep state of the animal, that was due to the ejection of the blood in high pressure.
3) At the end of six seconds the EEG recorder did not register any signal signifying no pain or torture by the animal.
4) Though the EEG recorder did not register any signal, and because of the continuous beating of the heart, and the pulsating actions of the body, the blood is being let out making the meat hygenic to be consumed by humans.
The western type of stunning the animals before slaughtering yielded the following results in the study.They suffered great pain was evident from the EEG recording.
1) The animals that are subjected to the method of killing by stunning are immediately rattled, and thrown off balance and enter a stage where they become unconscious.
2) At this stage the EEG recorded signals that the animals were experiencing severe pain.
3) At the same time the heart of animals stunned come to a standstill immediately when compared to that of halal way slaughtered ones, rendering the meat not hygienic enough to eat because the blood of the animals stays within the organs and flesh of the animal..The above cited studies prove the halal way of slaughtering is the best and also humane.
Hence it is proved the slaughtering of animals for food is not inhumane or a torture to animals.
Now the question arises why the animals that are not slaughtered in the name of Allah not to be consumed?
Generally no one can create an organism, even if the whole world comes together cannot create a single ant, and hence no body has the right to take the life of another being.
But if the same Allah who created these beings permits us to slaughter for food, there would be no regrets of doing so. But if we are to use this permission given to us by Allah, every time an animal is slaughtered we need His permission.
This permission is ‘Bismillah’ meaning slaughtering being done ‘in the name Allah’
The message to be understood here is “ Oh, God I am taking the life of a being not because I want it to be decimated, You are the one who created this creature and since You permitted I am slaughtering this .I am not the one to kill lives.
This kind of undertaking is the permission to slaughter.If it is not declared that the slaughtering is being done in the name of ‘Allah’ then it amounts to not getting permission from the owner of that life, leading to a crime being committed..
If we steal the goat of a person we know it amounts to theft -a crime. That person is the owner only to the meat of the animal. But it is necessary to get the permission of the owner of the life of the animal before it is killed.
Generally, one who is used to the practice of flashing a knife turns out at a later stage to be a ruffian getting involved in all kinds of unlawful activities, but the one who slaughters goats and sheep or cattle do not turn out to be one such person. The reason being “Bismillah”
It keeps reminding him that because of the permission granted by God ,he is slaughtering the animals everyday and that the same God did not permit him to kill men and hence he would not do it.
There is yet another benefit accruing of this.There are preferences in eating habits of people who consume bird or animal meat.
If we sell a slaughtered animal or bird to somebody who dislikes it, it amounts to a big fraud on him.We have come across people offering the meat of crow as that of chicken and that of dog as the meat of goat.
People are deceived for following their food habits by others to make money.
A muslim who ventures to slaughter an animal in the name of God would dare not call beef as mutton to make money. He would dare not slaughter animals or birds like dogs, pigs and crows that are prohibited in Islam.
By slaughtering in the name of God by saying Bismillah this is the extra benefit earned by man to stay on the side of truth.
This is one of the reasons Muslims are required to say ‘Bismillah’ when beginning to slaughter animals and birds.This reason is derived from our thinking, and more such reasons may be found. To know more about why fish can be eaten without being slaughtered and why dead fish are eaten, refer point No;505.
