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Islam And Vegetarianism

Sanjeev posted this in Negative Reasons to be a Vegetarian on March 7th, 2009

In this day and age if there is one religion about which one can be absolutely sure that there is no ambiguity if it prohibits meat eating or not, then I think it is Islam. Even though I have seen a lot of sites on the internet started by Muslims who espouse the cause of vegetarianism and have read a lot of references about Prophet Mohammed denouncing ill treatment of animals, I think that Islam does not prohibit meat eating at all. In fact, Prophet is quoted as saying, “the master of all foods is the meat”

Also, it is the only religion which clearly specifies what should not be eaten and meat is not part of the exclusion list. As a matter of fact, Islam clearly specifies how an animal should be cut so that it is halal and hence fit for consumption.

What a Muslim eats is dictated by the Islamic faith. Muslim dietary practice is, like all other things in Islam, fundamentally about obeying God. All practicing Muslim believers obey God Almighty by eating the allowed foods (halal) and avoiding the forbidden foods (haram) which are mentioned in the Qur’an and in the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims follow the dietary guidelines because they are God’s word in the Qur’an. The health benefits (if any) are secondary; it is God’s commandments that are crucial.

Halal foods (Arabic for permitted or lawful) are foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guideline. According to these guidelines gathered from the Holy Qu’ran, the ingredients that are forbidden for eating by a Muslim are:

Pork, lard or any porcine substance (primarily because pig is considered to be a dirty animal)
Meat that is not slaughtered in the prescribed Islamic way or not slaughtered in the name of Allah. (Muslims must pronounce the name of Allah on all animals while slaughtering. Muslims are taught through the Qu’ran that all animals should be treated with respect and well cared for. The goal is to slaughter the animal, limiting the amount of pain the animal will endure. When an animal is slaughtered, the jugular vein is cut and the blood is allowed to drain from the animal.)
Gelatin from animal source which is not halal (that is to say, an animal which has not been slaughtered as per prescribed Islamic process).
Meat coming from a lawful animal which died before slaughter (again it would mean that the animal died before it could be slaughtered as per the Islamic prescription.
Land animals without external ears.
Blood (direct or indirect)
Any food or drink with alcohol in it (all intoxicant and hazardous drinks)
Any human substance or part.
All carnivorous animals and birds of prey (It is because it is believed that what a person eats has an affect on his behaviour. if we eat a carnivorous animal then it is assumed that it would also make the consumer violent and ferocious. Islam only
allows the eating of herbivorous animals like cow, goat, sheep, etc. that are peaceful and docile. Muslims eat peaceful and docile animals because Muslims like to be peace loving and non-violent people).
Some non halal additives

Having said all this, it is also true that there is no prohibition to be vegetarian in Islam, but any practicing Muslim will come across meat on many Islamic occasions when meat is provided, e.g., the sacrifice of sheep and distribution to the poor at the end of Hajj pilgrimage.

It should also be noted that it is not obligatory to eat meat in Islam.

Halal pure healthy meat, chicken, fish, milk, olove oil and honey are highly recommended in Isalm.

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Christianity and Vegetarianism – No Common Ground for the Two

Sanjeev posted this in Negative Reasons to be a Vegetarian on March 4th, 2009

Christianity does not support vegetarianism and hence it is not possible to promote vegetarianism using Christian religion. I know there would be a lot of vegetarian Christians out there who would protest, but then they are in a minority. Even they do not know what their number is. This theme will be read a lot of times in this article – if Christians believe that their religions supports vegetarianism then why is it that there are so few Christian vegetarians? If you would like to prove me wrong, then please turn into vegetarians!!! Else, believe me that Christian philosophy and vegetarianism are at the two ends of the universe.

I recently read in an online post titled “What would Jesus Eat…Today” that “we believe that, if Jesus were among us today and witnessed the wastefulness, environmental destructiveness, human health hazards, and animal mistreatment inherent in modern animal agriculture’s methods, he would choose to abstain.”

I disagree.

If Christians really believed that, then the percentage of vegetarians amongst them would have been far greater than the measly 4-5 percent that it currently is. And this number is also my guesstimate on the higher side. I tried to find the percentage of Christians that are vegetarians but did not get any authoritative estimate anywhere. The nearest that I could get was from Vegetarian Resource Group’s website which quotes from US Census of 2000 that 2.8% of Americans are estimated to be vegetarian, that is they never eat meat, poultry and fish/seafood. Now it is quite possible that out of the 2.8% mentioned here not all are Christians. However even if I assume at least 2.5% are Christians and if the worldwide Christian vegetarians are twice the number of American Christians, the total number of Christian Vegetarians does nor exceed 5%.

I also read in a few places that the Bible depicts vegetarianism as an ideal, with a peaceful, vegetarian world at the Creation and at the end of time. I am certain that at the time of the creation the human beings were vegetarians and that is a subject of one of my future posts under the positive reasons to be a vegetarian. And I am also certain that before the creation ends, humans if alive would be vegetarians – again subject of an article in the future under the positive reasons for being a vegetarian.

The fact that Bible depicts vegetarianism as an ideal is similar to the vegetarianism being promoted in Hindu scriptures – enlightened people ahead of their times advising masses to be vegetarians. That however does not mean that the religion itself promotes vegetarian diet. Amongst Hindus at least 30 percent are vegetarians. If Christianity indeed promoted vegetarian habit, the number of vegetarian Christians would not have been so low – especially when Christian religion is far more organized than Hinduism.

I think some of the following facts also give Christians enough reason to eat meat:

1. Genesis 9:2-4 describes God giving Noah permission to eat meat. Christian vegetarians state that this may have been because all plants were destroyed by the Flood. Again, I disagree. God could have created enough plants in no time if he really wanted people not to eat animals. But he did not. So it would mean that God has no problem with us humans eating animals. I have not read this as an argument, it is my own. And that is why I say that religion is not the reason why you should give up eating meat.

2. Jesus says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God…. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7). This passage relates that God values humans more than animals. A vegetarian would say that God remains concerned about all creatures and has compassion for animals, and allow them to live full and normal lives, without equating human and animal life. It is that last bit which gives the non-vegetarian enough leeway to consume animals. After all God does not equate animals to humans, and therefore it is all right to eat them.

3. The issue of sacrifice of animals is a widely debated issue among Christians. It is believed that God accepted sacrifices at an earlier and more primitive time, but that sacrifices are neither required nor desired now, since Jesus’ death atoned for our sins in a very final way. I have read that several prophets, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Amos, and Hosea, objected to sacrifice, often emphasizing that God prefers righteousness. Vegetarian Christians would go to the extent of saying that Jesus chose to sacrifice himself to fulfill God’s will. And therefore for a meat eater what better argument in favour of killing and eating animals – if God can accept a human as sacrifice (who was actually his own son) then what is the status of animals?

4. Luke 24:43 relates that Jesus ate fish. That’s would mean that Jesus himself was a non-vegetarian. If Christ can eat meat, surely the ordinary mortals can. Many Christian vegetarians would argue that if Jesus lived today, he would be a vegetarian. Again as I said, I disagree. It is their desire that is stating this. Most Christians do not think so. Else they all would be vegetarians.

5. Peter is instructed to “kill and eat” all creatures (Acts 10:13, 11:7).

6. Timothy 4:4 says, “Everything created by God is good”? This is seized by meat eaters to argue that God created animals for us to eat.

7. Paul also condoned meat-eating nearly 2000 years ago in 1 Corinthians 10:25.

8. A majority of Christian saints and leaders have eaten meat and kept humans as slaves. A vegetarian Christian might argue that just because they acted badly in some respects does not mean that we should follow them in these respects. Good intent, but bad argument. Especially when you want us to follows them in all other respects.

This is why I keep saying religion and vegetarianism are not on the same side of the divide. Religion is a negative reason for being a vegetarian. In my next post we will try and see what is the stand of Islam on being a vegetarian – Is vegetarian food halal or haram?

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