Animal Welfare in Islam

each of the chapters has been treated as a subject on its own

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.

Not to be cruel or even to be condescendingly kind to the so-called inferior animals is a negative proposition.

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).

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.

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 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.

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 learned theologians generally remain blissfully uninformed on this subject, which is generally beyond the pale of their normal responsibilities.

Notwithstanding this, I feel that 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.