By Dr. Zakir Naik
There are many non-Muslims
who have studied Islam. Most of them have only
read books on Islam written by biased critics of
Islam. These non-Muslims have a different set of
twenty common misconceptions about Islam. For
instance, they claim to have found contradictions
in the Qur'an, they contend that the Qur'an is
unscientific etc. In this issue I shall deal with
Eating non-Vegetarian Food.
Question: Killing an animal is a ruthless
act. Why then do Muslims consume non-vegetarian
food?
Answer: ‘Vegetarianism’ is
now a movement the world over. Many even
associate it with animal rights. Indeed, a large
number of people consider the consumption of meat
and other non-vegetarian products as a violation
of animal rights.
Islam enjoins mercy and compassion for all
living creatures. At the same time Islam
maintains that Allah has created the earth and
its wondrous flora and fauna for the benefit of
mankind. It is upto mankind to use every resource
in this world judiciously, as a ‘niyamat’
( Divine blessing ) and ‘amanat’
( trust ) from Allah.
Let us look at various other aspects of this
argument.
1. A Muslim can be a pure vegetarian
A Muslim can be a very good Muslim despite
being a pure vegetarian. It is not compulsory for
a Muslim to have non-vegetarian food.
2. Qur’an permits Muslims to have
non-veg
The Qur’an, however permits a Muslim to
have non-vegetarian food. The following
Qur’anic verses are proof of this fact:
a. “O ye who believe! Fulfil (all)
obligations. Lawful unto you (for food) are all
four-footed animals with the exceptions
named.” [Al-Qur’an 5:1]
b. “And cattle He has created for you
(men): from them Ye derive warmth, and numerous
benefits, And of their (meat) ye eat.”
[Al-Qur’an 16:5]
c. “And in cattle (too) ye have an
instructive example: From within their bodies We
produce (milk) for you To drink; there are, in
them, (Besides), numerous (other) Benefits for
you; and of their (meat) ye eat”
[Al-Qur’an 23:21]
3. Meat is nutritious
Meat is rich in protein, iron, vitamin B1 and
niacin. Non-vegetarian food is a good source of
excellent protein.
4. Humans have Omnivorous set of teeth
If you observe the teeth of herbivorous
animals like the cow, goat and sheep, you will
find something strikingly similar in all of them.
All these animals have a flat set of teeth i.e.
suited for herbivorous diet. If you observe the
set of teeth of the carnivorous animals like the
lion or tiger, they all have a pointed set of
teeth i.e. suited for a carnivorous diet. If you
analyze the set of teeth of humans, you find that
they have flat teeth as well as pointed teeth.
Thus they have teeth suited for both herbivorous
as well as carnivorous food i.e. they are
omnivorous. One may ask, if Almighty Allah wanted
humans to have only vegetables, why did He
provide us also with pointed teeth? It is logical
that He expected us to have both vegetarian as
well as non-vegetarian food.
5. Human beings can digest both vegetarian
and non-vegetarian foods
The digestive system of herbivorous animals
can digest only vegetables. The digestive system
of carnivorous animals can digest only meat. But
the digestive system of humans can digest both
vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. If Almighty
Allah wanted us to have only vegetables then why
did He give us a digestive system that can digest
both vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian foods?
6. Hindu scriptures give permission to
have non-veg
a. There are many Hindus who are strictly
vegetarian. They think that it is against their
religion to consume non-vegetarian food. In fact
the Hindu scriptures permit a person to have
meat. The scriptures mention Hindu sages and
saints consuming non-vegetarian foods.
b. It is mentioned in Ayodhya Khandam, verses
20,26 and 94 that when Rama was sent for Banavas
he told his mother that he would have to
sacrifice his tasty meat dishes. If Rama had to
sacrifice his tasty meat dishes it meant that
Rama had likeness for meat. If Rama can have
meat, why can’t the Hindus have meat?
7 Hinduism was influenced by other
religions
Though Hindu Scriptures permit its followers
to have non-veg foods, many Hindus adopted the
vegetarian system because they were influenced by
other religions like Jainism.
8 Even plants have life
Certain religions have adopted pure
vegetarianism because they are totally against
the killing of living creatures. If a person can
survive without killing any living creature, I
would be the first person to adopt such a way of
life. In the past people thought plants were
lifeless. Today it is a well established
universal fact that even plants have life. Thus
their logic of not killing living creatures is
not fulfilled even by being a pure vegetarian.
9 Even plants can feel pain
They further argue that plants cannot feel
pain, therefore killing a plant is a lesser crime
when compared to killing an animal. Today science
tells us that even plants can feel pain. But the
cry of the plant cannot be heard by the human
being. This is due to the inability of the human
ear to hear sounds that are not in the audible
range i.e. 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz.
Anything below and above this range cannot be
heard by a human being. A dog can hear up to
40,000 Hertz. Thus there are silent dog whistles
that have a frequency of more than 20,000 Hertz
and less than 40,000 Hertz. These whistles are
only heard by dogs and not by human beings. The
dog recognizes the master’s whistle and
comes to the master. There was research done by a
farmer who invented an instrument which converted
the cry of the plant so that it could be heard by
human being. He was able to realize immediately
when the plant itself cried for water.
10 Killing a living creature with 2
senses less is not a lesser crime. Once a
vegetarian argues his case by saying that plants
only have two or three senses while the animals
have five senses. Therefore killing a plant is a
lesser crime than killing an animal.
Suppose your brother is born deaf and dumb and
has two senses less as compared to other human
beings. He becomes mature and someone murders
him. Would you ask the law to give the murderer a
lesser punishment because your brother has two
senses less? In fact you would say that he has
killed a ‘masoom’, an innocent
person and you should give the murderer a greater
punishment. Islam is not based on such logic.
In fact the Qur’an says: “O ye
people! Eat of what is on earth, lawful and
good” [Al-Qur’an 2:168]
11 Over population of cattle
If every human being was a vegetarian, it
would lead to overpopulation of cattle in the
world, since their reproduction and
multiplication is very swift. Allah (SWT) in His
Divine Wisdom knows how to maintain the balance
of His creation appropriately. No wonder He has
permitted us to have the meat of the cattle.
12 Cost of meat is reasonable since all
aren’t non-vegetarian
I do not mind if some people are pure
vegetarian. However they should not condemn
non-vegetarians as ruthless. In fact if all
Indians become non-vegetarians then personally I
would be a loser since the prices of meat would
rise.
( The author is the president of Islamic
Research Foundation, Mumbai, Email:
islam@irf.net, http://www.irf.net)
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Editorial
