in the name of Allah the beneficent the
most merciful I'd like to welcome you
dear viewers to another in our series
contemporary issues
alayum May Allah's peace and blessings
be on each and every one of you in this
segment of our program we'll be looking
at the issue of animal
Slaughter and um we're looking at it
particularly because of the fact that uh
there has been an accusation pointed at
Muslims as being uh somewhat
bloodthirsty you know um among those who
led this accusation was Bridget BAU the
famous French actress who uh observed in
in France that you know every time
would come around uh that Muslims would
be buying sheep and cutting their necks
you know and she's very much into this
uh protection of uh animals from Human
cruelty etc etc so she had made some
very disparaging remarks about Muslims
there in France she was taken to court
and in fact required to apologize to
Muslims but the idea still is out there
you know of Muslims uh really very
bloodthirsty we are known as uh wanting
to fight everybody and we like to cut
the necks of these animals this is how
we are presented
now I remember there was actually a case
couple of years back also in the
newspaper in in New York City you know
where a Muslim he had bought a rooster
or whatever a chicken and and he
fattened it up in his home and he was
going to you know kill the animal and
and and and cook it up and eat it and uh
you know the SP SPCA this the society
for the prevention of cruelty to animals
got wind of it you I guess one of his
neighbors informed on him that he was
going to kill this animal in his home
and they you know they burst in his
front door you know they had pictures of
them bursting in the front door and
catching this man going to saving the
life of this chicken taking the chicken
away from him I mean very um
uh quite hilarious really but anyway
let's look at the issue involved
here the basic issue you know is one of
uh what we could call irrational
sentimentality because here we have
people very much concerned about the
killing of
animals and there are millions literally
millions of human fetuses which are
aborted every year in in America
millions in England millions in
France millions and millions of children
are killed they're aborted every year
but at the same time for us to kill an
animal and eat it this becomes a you
know major case that people are going to
be up in arms about and you know so
really I think this is very distorted
the whole image that they have you know
of uh saving lives animal lives what
about those
fetuses they may not be human beings in
your perception but surely that's animal
life that is being
destroyed anyway if we leave that and we
actually tackle the the claim that
Muslims are cruel to animals in their
Slaughter and we say well okay let's
look at the methods that you have as an
alternative what are the Western methods
okay Western methods for small animals
like chickens what they will do number
of slaughter houses they put the
chickens they put them on these racks
and their legs are hanging down and then
they put them and dip their feet in
water and then they Electrify this water
so they're Zapped and they say okay this
zaps them into unconsciousness or kills
them whatever and then they cut their
heads off this is supposed to be more
Humane because they're cutting the head
after they're dead but
hey has any of you stuck your finger in
a socket or got a shock it's not a very
pleasant experience and enough
electricity to kill you is definitely
not going to be a pleasant experience at
all so to claim that this is a more
humane way this is very painful this
method of electrifying these animals is
a very painful method it is not in any
way you know more
Humane the other method for the bigger
animals is what they call like a stun
gun right they have a gun with a piston
at the end when they put uh bullets in
it's not the bullet with a lead Which
flies out and shoots like regular guns
do instead the bullet explodes inside
and drives a piston out which hits the
animal in the head and then the Piston
goes back in the gun you can use it
again they put it near the head of the
animal they pull the trigger the Piston
bangs the animal in the head knocks it
unconscious and then they will string
him up and cut his neck whatever I said
this is more Humane but again if
somebody were to take a crowbar or a
baseball bat and whack you at the side
of your head until you fell into
unconsciousness is this a Humane method
is this without pain or is this a very
painful
experience I mean anybody who's been
involved in boxing Etc you know knows
even with all those padded gloves on
blows to the head that are going to
knock you out are very painful this is
not the you know it's not the painless
experience at all
so this claims that this in fact is is
more Humane are false claims and when we
look at the um the method of that Islam
prescribes where the animal's neck is
cut I mean the reality is that the the
whole of the neck isn't
cut only the veins the jugular veins of
the neck and the esophagus this is what
is cut so the spinal cord is intact
signals from the brain still going to
the heart of the animal verus the animal
and the animal will event will die
slowly it's not a quick death it's a
slow death where the blood comes out and
as blood decreases in the body blood not
getting to the brain the animal goes
unconscious and it dies now this is more
in keeping for example with the popular
method of suicide in in in Western
Society where people will get a razor
blade you know fill their tub with warm
water and then cut their
wrists and lie there as the blood seeps
into the water or whatever eventually
they go into unconsciousness and die
gradually this is a popular method of
suicide and I'm not suggesting it for
anybody but just uh it is chosen because
it's painless why because when you cut
yourself with a razor blade you don't
feel it I mean we know it people
handling sharp instruments you you may
cut yourself very easily and not even
realize it a shave or whatever you don't
realize till you see the blood you know
so similarly when Muslims are prescribed
you know to to kill the Animals by
cutting the jugg of a vein and the
esophagus this knife is supposed to be
razor sharp so when they cut it the
animal doesn't even feel the
cut and as I said the the animal loses
Consciousness gradually and it's a very
painless death it is not a harsh and
inhumane way of taking the life of the
animal and it is far superior to the
electric shocks given or the stun gun
used by the in Western methods it is far
superior
now that's one
point the other point you know which is
the the vegetarians arguments you know
that um well humans are really not meant
to eat meat you really shouldn't kill be
killing the animals anyway
you know we don't need to kill the
animals we can get all our needs from
vegetable sources etc etc the reality is
that human beings are neither herbivores
nor carnivores we are omnivores we our
systems are made to eat both meat and
vegetable
matter so if if you know if we say we
were created Mother Nature as they would
say created us this way I mean there is
a purpose here
we are created able to eat meat why to
eat meat so this is this is a very you
know felicious argument you know I mean
and in fact when we go and look to see
what is behind this argument we find
that the the the root of this argument
comes out of India out of those people
who
believe
that you shouldn't eat meat period and
of course it's good to point out that
really this is something rather new in
in Hindu tredition because the early
writings you know in the the bavid Gita
and the other books when they talk about
the gods Etc the gods are eating meat
they're meat eaters actually this not
eating meat is something which developed
later on in their history it was not the
early beliefs and the early practices of
the the original
Hindus but in any case this is their
standard belief now and this really came
along with the belief in reincarnation
so for a Hindu I mean killing
an animal eating that animal is a
situation where due to The Reincarnation
belief that a person when he dies or she
dies if they were not good if they were
good in this life they they move up the
ladder right this is up the cast ladder
towards the top cast which is the
Brahman cast and after that they Unite
with god with the Universal Soul rahma
but if they're not good they go down
down the ladder and they can be reborn
as an animal as a sheep or a goat and if
you're really unlucky maybe as a
cockroach so the point is that
here here what is happening uh people
don't want to eat meat don't want to eat
a goat or a cow because this may be your
grandfather this may be your
great-grandfather that you're eating so
this is where this dislike for the
eating of meat came from I mean of
course it's been cloaked in other
language you know how medically
arguments you know our bodies and you
know it is better and but really that is
the essence of it it's based on that
belief and of course it's nonsense it's
nonsense Americans eat beef burgers you
know how many cows are eating every year
you know at the wimpies and McDonald's
etc etc you know
so this is uh really a pointless
argument
from the Islamic
perspective animals were created for the
benefit of human beings just as the rest
of the world is we have an obligation to
them to look after them to treat them
well in fact so much so that Prophet
Muhammad wasallam had described the
circumstance of in the time past in
which he said that a woman who was in
fact a prostitute from among the
Israelites she came to a well she went
and got herself some water and then when
she came out she saw a dog thirsty dying
from thirst so much so that it was
licking the Earth trying to get some
moisture out of the earth she climbed
back down in the well tied her shoe to a
scarf and filled it with water brought
it up and fed the dog and out of that
act of Mercy for that animal God forgave
her her sins and put her in
Paradise on the other hand there was
another woman who had a cat
which she tied up and she didn't allow
that cat didn't feed it and didn't allow
it to go and find its own food and it
stayed and starved to death and due to
the evil of that act that she did God
put her in
hell it's the prophet informed his
followers stressing here the importance
of kindness to animals opposed
fundamentally to the Cru cruelty to
animals
and his companions had even asked him he
said I mean is there goodness in in
animals in feeding he said in every
living being there is a chance to earn
Good Deeds to gain goodness through
helping
them so Islam is very much in favor of
protecting animals looking after them
Prophet mam had even said that we should
never take animals as our targets never
make them a Target that we fire our bows
or arrows or Guns Etc take them for
target practice this is forbidden in
Islam so the whole process the Western
safaris where you know Western
Civilization sent certain you know
elements the upper crust of the society
into Africa and Asia you know hunting
down elephants and rhinoceroses and
killing them and you know to bring back
trophies for their fireplaces Etc this
is something abhorent in Islam forbidden
in Islam in Islam and animals life may
only be
taken for the reason of protecting
ourselves from its harm because it's a
dangerous animal threatening Our Lives
we take its life for that reason to
protect human life
secondly to we may kill them for food
for our own benefit to
eat thirdly we may kill them because
their skins will provide warmth for us
for example in
you know provide shoes or provide belts
or whatever our needs we may kill them
for our needs you know I mean of course
I mean those people would argue well hey
we have artificial means of you know
creating these other things now we don't
need anymore well of course we don't
have to but if people Some people prefer
leather they want to have leather the
leather is there for us to use we can
still utilize it but the method in which
these animals are killed should be
Humane methods I mean when you look at
what how they would take the um Furs of
the the animals to create these fur
coats you know where they show pictures
of these people with the small these
little animals and then they have these
people with clubs just bashing in their
heads and things like this of course
this is inhumane this is evil and Islam
would never support it but the use of
the animals for human benefit from the
Islamic perspective is legitimate but we
have
bounds uh by which uh we are bound we
have to stay within
them we we are Humane to them when we
take their
lives and we don't take their life for
sport I mean the hunt you know letting
out the fox and letting the animals and
going for the hunt you know which is
very popular uh game and Sport from the
Islamic perspective is evil Islam would
not support
that but hunting animals to eat to go
bird hunting or whatever and when you
kill the animal you cook it and you eat
it so you're taking benefit from it it
is
permissible the other topic which I
would like to cover in this segment is
is uh concerning
dogs now a lot of people are familiar
with the fact that Muslims tend to avoid
dogs generally speaking uh people maybe
think that Muslims Fe and hate dogs you
know usually westerners if they come in
the presence or in areas where Muslims
are they're carrying a dog and a Lee you
find Muslims running in all directions
don't want to be you know near the dog
you know so it it gives the impression
of of this great fear where in the west
of course where the dog has become man's
best
friend
right the dog is treated like a child
people who lose family members or they
grow up and they're left alone instead
of adopting a child you know they will
get a dog or get an animal which they
will look after and then you find them
you know petting the animal giving it
clothing and you know really so much so
that you find even people leaving all of
their inheritance to their dogs I mean
this is the kind of love which is
developed around dogs replacing even
love for
children now we have to look at the
Muslim reaction to the dogs in general
and understand whether in fact this is
According to Islamic teachings or not
Muslims tend to run from dogs whenever
dogs come why where did this come from
well they believe commonly many people
believe that if a dog touches you your
state of ablution or your state of
ritual Purity is gone you have to go and
wash up again wash your face hands and
feet so on so it's their belief if the
dog touches you or if it licks you you
know you touch its hair its body touches
you anyway you are
defiled in that sense really however
this is not true Islamic law does not in
fact really teach this the prophet M
wasallam did say in an authentic Hadith
that if a dog licks the food or drink
from a vessel in which you're drinking
you should pour out its contents let
them finish eating it and then wash that
vessel seven times one of which should
be with clean earth clean it with Earth
and one might question well why Earth
well the point is that the vast majority
over 70% of antibiotics come from the
earth so the Earth carries with it
certain uh properties which can clean uh
due to its antibacterial action Etc you
know the way most other products and
things
cannot but and of course there's a point
to to mention that I mean this was
something identified over 1,400 years
ago but however what is pointing out
here is that there's harm in the saliva
of the dog if a person is in that direct
contact there's some harm which is being
passed on um maybe modern science has
not detected all of the harm although
you know they um there is some harm
already identified the Dog tap tapeworm
known as uh
dilum caninum you know and uh there are
other diseases uh which are passed on by
dogs you know whether it's Rocky mounted
spotted Feld and and a variety of other
uh diseases which dogs are known to pass
on the number of dogs that that uh harm
people whether it's you know they're
fighting dogs which chew up kids and um
people who are bitten by dogs every year
you know um the numbers are are quite
large in fact the JAMA the Journal of
American Medical Association in in an
article entitled dog bites recognized as
a public health problem said that every
year in the United States almost 2% of
the population is bitten by a
dog that is about 800,000
people are bitten seriously enough to
require medical
attention and 18 people die from dog
bites every year this is these are
physical facts now from Islamic
perspective dogs may be kept for hunting
purposes to guard a home or to H ones
sheep or cattle or camels Etc these are
uses which are legitimate from the
Islamic perspective but just keeping one
in a home as the best friend eating with
you sleeping with you Etc this is what
Islam does not permit with that dear
viewers I'd like to thank you for being
with us on this segment of our program
contemporary issues bringing Clarity to
issues that may be somewhat confused in
the minds of non-muslims as well as
Muslims today and we hope hope that you
continue to follow our program over the
coming episodes