Animals in Islam
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Islam |
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According to Islam, animals are conscious of God. According to the
It is forbidden to kill any animal except for food or to prevent it from harming people.The Quran explicitly allows the consumption of the meat of certain halal (lawful) animals.[2][5] Although some Sufis have practised vegetarianism, there has been no serious discourse on the possibility of interpretations of scripture that require vegetarianism.[2] Certain animals can be eaten under the condition that they are slaughtered in a specified way.[6]
Pre-7th century
In the
Based on the facts that the names of certain tribes bear the names of animals, survivals of animal cults, prohibitions of certain foods and other indications, W. R. Smith argued for the practice of totemism by certain pre-Islamic tribes of Arabia. Others have argued that this evidence may only imply the practice of a form of animalism. In support of this, for example, it was believed that upon one's death, the soul departs from the body in the form of a bird (usually a sort of owl); the soul-as-bird then flies about the tomb for some time, occasionally crying out (for vengeance).[8]
Human duties in utilizing animals
According to Islam, human beings are allowed to use animals, but only if the rights of the animals are respected. The owner of an animal must do everything to benefit the animal. If the owner fails to perform their duties for the animal, the animal goes to someone else. The duties humans have to animals in Islam are based in the Quran, Sunnah and traditions.[9]
Protection of animals' physical health
Harming, disabling, injuring, or cutting out the organs from any animal is strongly prohibited.[9] Muslims may not cut the forelock, mane, or tail of a horse, because it is believed there is goodness in its forelock; its mane provides it warmth and it swats insects away with its tail.[10]
Protection of animals' sexual health
Muslims are not allowed to perform acts such as the interbreeding (as in inbreeding) of animals.[9] Muhammad forbade people from castrating animals.[11]
Preventing cruelty and maltreatment to animals
Muslims are not allowed to harass and misuse animals, which includes snatching a leaf from an ant's mouth.
Avoiding punishment of animals
Muslims cannot use any equipment that injures an animal, (i.e., beating them in a circus show, forcing them to carry heavy loads, or running at extreme speeds in races) even to train them.[20] Exposure to sound is also regulated.[21][9]
Providing food
Muslims are obliged to provide food and water for any animal they see, even if the animal does not belong to them.[22] In providing food and water considerations are the quality of the provisions[23][24] and the amount of the provision based on the animal's condition and location.[25][9]
Providing sanitation
Animals' health must be respected,[26] along with food, water,[27] and shelter.[9]
Providing medication
In the event of illness, Muslims are expected to pay for the care and medication.[28][9]
Providing dwelling
From an Islamic view, the appropriate shelter for an animal has three characteristics:
- Fits the animal's needs and[29] they should not be placed in an unsanitary condition on the pretext that they do not understand.
- Fits the physical needs of the animal and its health and protect it from cold and heat.[30]
- The dwelling of animals should not pollute the environment or spread disease to other organisms.[9][31]
Respecting animal of status
In Islam, the rights of animals are respected in both life[32] and death. Animal bodies may never be used for malicious purposes.[9]
Qur'an
Quran |
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Although over two hundred verses in the Qur'an deal with animals and six Quranic chapters (
There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end.[36]
The Qur'an says that animals benefit humans in many ways and that they are aesthetically pleasing to look at. This is used as proof of God's benevolence towards humans.
The Quran contains three mentions of dogs:
- Verse 5:4 says "Lawful for you are all good things, and [the prey] that trained [hunting] dogs and falcons catch for you."[42]
- Verse 18:18 describes the Companions of the Cave, a group of saintly young men presented in the Qurʼan as exemplars of religion, sleeping with "their dog stretching out its forelegs at the threshold." Further on, in verse 22, the dog is always counted as one of their numbers, no matter how they are numbered. In Muslim folklore, affectionate legends have grown around the loyal and protective qualities of this dog, whose name in legend is Qiṭmīr.[43][44][45]
The above verses are seen as portraying dogs positively.[46] An alleged hadith which regards black dogs as "evil" has been rejected by the majority of Islamic scholars as fabricated.[according to whom?] Nevertheless, Islamic scholars have tended to regard dogs' saliva as impure; practically, this means anything licked by a dog necessitates washing. Many Islamic jurists allowed owning dogs for herding, farming, hunting, or protection, but prohibited ownership for reasons they regarded as "frivolous".[47]
There is a whole chapter in the Quran named "The Ants". As a result, the killing of ants in Sunni Islam is prohibited.[48][49] Within the aforementioned chapter of "The Ant", there is an account of Sulaymaan (Solomon) talking to the eponymous ant[50] as well as birds, most famously the hoopoe.[51]
The Quran
Forbidden (haram) is also the meat of domesticated donkeys, mules, any predatory animal with canine teeth and birds with talons.[60]
Verses 50 and 51 of
The Arabic word meaning "animal" (hayawān/haywān (
Sunnah
Part of a series on |
Hadith |
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Sunnah refers to the traditional biographies of Muhammad wherein examples of sayings attributed to him and his conduct have been recorded. Sunnah consists of hadith (anecdotes about Muhammad).
Animals must not be mutilated while they are alive.
Muhammad issued advice to kill animals that were
Muslims are required to sharpen the blade when slaughtering animals to ensure that no pain is felt.[64] Muhammad is said to have said: "For [charity showed to] each creature which has a wet liver [i.e. is alive], there is a reward."[2][9]
There is a hadith in Muwatta' Imam Malik about Muslim Pilgrims having to beware of the wolf, besides other animals.[65]
Muhammad is also reported as having reprimanded some men who were sitting idly on their
In the
In Shi'ite ahadith, bats are praised as a miracle of nature.[63]
The wolf may symbolize ferocity.
Domestic
Muslim cultures
Usually, in Muslim-majority cultures, animals have names (one animal may be given several names), which are often interchangeable with the names of people. Muslim names or titles like
Islamic literature has many stories of animals.
In Malaysia in 2016, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, a religious governing body, prohibited the use of the term hot dog to refer to the food of that name. It asked food outlets selling them to rename their products or risk refusal of halal certification. The term 'Pretzel dog' was considered more appropriate. Per local media, Malaysian halal food guidelines prohibit naming halal products after non-halal products.[91] Islamist organization Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, banned public dog walking in May 2017, stating it was to "protect our women and children". Hamas officials stated that the ban was in response to a rise in dog walking on the streets which they stated was "against culture and traditions in Gaza".[92]
Ritual slaughter
In permitting dhabiha, the
Animals in Islamic art
The depiction of animals serve numerous functions in Islamic art. Various animal motifs may work to serve as symbolic metaphors for human beings in a variety objects but their use may vary a great degree from object to object ultimately dependent upon context in which these figures are situated in. The depiction of animals may also serve the purpose of being decorative motifs, examples of the use of animals for decorative purposes can be found in textiles, ceramics, metal work, mosaics, and in general, a wide spectrum of Islamic artistic mediums. Furthermore, depictions of animals in Islam can potentially be a combination of both decorative and symbolic in their respective usage, e.g. royal tapestries with animal motifs used to cover furniture such as the "Double-Face Textile with a Tree of Life & a Winged Lion," hailing from Rayy, Iran circa the Early Islamic Period. In the instance of the "Double-Face Textile with a Tree of Life and a Winged Lion," the use of lions can serve as a great study for reoccurring animal motifs which are used as a representational link between the symbolic power of the lion in nature and the sultan's power. Which in term demonstrates a dual use in visually portraying a lions.[98]
Many animals are often represented alongside "vegetal" (Arabesque) patterns and are often found in an adorsed position (represented twice, symmetrically, and often side by side). Often we can find these adorsed or flanking animals surrounding an actual visual representation of a tree, this seems to be a common motif. The "Tree of Life" mosaic found at the desert palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar built under Caliph Walid II's rule during the Umayyad period, is perhaps one of the most well known mosaics depicting animals in figural form in the Islamic world.[99] This particular mosaic was found in a private room of the desert palace which served as a bathhouse complex for the purpose of leisure. There is no religious context to this particular mosaic which explains the figural depictions of animals, under a religious context we would not see such figural depictions due to aniconism in the Islamic faith. In this mosaic we see a lion attacking a gazelle on the right side of the mosaic, and on the left side we see a depiction of two other gazelles casually grazing. Although there are multiple interpretations of this mosaic, one major interpretation seems to be that the actual physical depiction of the tree of life is a metaphor for the great and vast knowledge growing from the Islamic world. The lion attacking the gazelle is a borrowed motif from previous civilizations that is meant to represent Islam and the Islamic caliphates power as continuing the legacy of the great civilizations the preceded them (e.g. Mesopotamia).[100] Another main interpretation is that this mosaic was a private erotic piece of art that depicted the caliphates sexual prowess, seeing as it was located in a private room of the bath complex. The entanglement of branches on the trees bearing fruit, the female gazelles grazing by the tree, and of course the lion (a stand in for the sultan) taking down his "prey" (a sole female gazelle), are all a testament to the sultan's (Walid II) reputation and exploits, which were well documented in the sultan's own writings.[100]
Live animals or trophy pieces of deceased animals would sometimes be gifted to royal courts from one sultan to another sultan in the Islamic world. In some instances, this exchange of animals as gifts would come from outside the Islamic world as well. For example of
The general overarching Idea of the examples given above are that the use of animals as symbolic representations of humans, royal accoutrements, symbolic representations of power, etc. were not necessarily exclusive in their use. Instead, they could cross the entire gamut in terms of art and culture. There is a multitude of usage and meanings in the depiction of animals in Islamic art. The context could range from political, religious, decorative, etc. These animal representations in the Islamic are not static and tell countless stories.
See also
- Qurbani
- Sulayman and animals
- Yunus and the Nun
- Legal aspects of ritual slaughter
- Animal sacrifice
- The Case of the Animals versus Man
References
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The seven pious youths 'and the eighth with them was their dog' (Sūra 18:22) have turned into protective spirits, whose names, and especially that of their dog Qiṭmīr, written on amulets, carry Baraka with them.
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Al-Thaʻlabī cites an opinion according to which the dog of the Dwellers of the Cave[...] will dwell in heaven. Al-Thaʻlabī, al-Kashf wa-al-Bayān (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʼ al-Turāth al-ʻArabī, 2002), 2:251.
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But Islamic scholars and other Muslims say that many hadith are fabricated or hard to verify, including those about dogs. And because these hadith contradict the apparent divine sanction for dogs in the Quran, these stories should not be trusted.
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- ^ "Chapter 27, An-Naml (The Ants)". Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ "Chapter , - Sahih Muslim, Volume - Hadith". www.theonlyquran.com. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
- ^ See Quran 27:18
- ^ See Quran 27:20
- Quran 15:80-84
- Quran 7:73-79
- Quran 11:61-69
- Quran 26:141-158
- Quran 54:23-31
- Quran 89:6-13
- Quran 91:11-15
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{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ a b Annemarie Schimmel. Islam and The Wonders of Creation: The Animal Kingdom. Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2003. Pages 2-4
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Notes
- Masri, Al-Hafiz Basheer Ahmad (1993). Animal Welfare in Islam. Islamic Foundation. ISBN 0-86037-411-4.
- El Fadl, Khaled Abou (2004). Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, s.v. "Dogs in the Islamic Tradition and Nature.". New York: Continuum International.
- ISBN 1-85168-398-4.
- Gill, H. A. R. Shorter Enclyopaedia of Islam. Netherlands: Brill.
- Khan, Tauseef, Honey Bee, in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. I, pp. 263–265. ISBN 1610691776
- Tlili, Sarra, Animals, in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. I, pp. 24–29. ISBN 1610691776
Further reading
- The attitude towards animals in Islam according to Islamic rulings on the internet by Dr. Housni al-Khateeb Shehada (2009)
External links
- Media related to Animals in Islam at Wikimedia Commons