Despite the availability of hi-tech facilities in slaughter houses, animals are still chained and dragged in some places, boiling water is poured on them when they are still alive to help remove their skin and hair. Big businesses where such practices are common supply meat in different forms to many Muslim countries. May I ask whether such treatment of animals to be killed for food is permissible. Within the same context, what is the Islamic view of the practice of killing unwanted fish and other life caught while fishing.
Human beings should always remember that it is only by the grace of God that they are allowed to slaughter animals, such as sheep, cows and poultry for food. They are also permitted to catch fish to eat. Therefore when they do slaughter animals and catch fish, they should always show their gratitude to God and His blessings, and approach the task of slaughter with humility and propriety. This requires that they should understand and abide by the Islamic teachings which regulate this activity.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, once instructed one of his companions who was about to slaughter a sheep to take it out of sight of other sheep. Needless to say, the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not want the other sheep to witness the slaughter of one of their numbers. He wanted to spare them that feeling of sorrow.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, also emphasized the need to ensure that the slaughtered animal will be placed in the most comfortable position and that it should be allowed to die very quickly and with minimum pain. He is authentically reported to have said: "God has indeed prescribed that all things should be done in a proficient manner. Thus, when you kill, kill properly. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he is slaughtering." (Related by Muslim.)
It is clear that the Prophet, peace be upon him, considers a quick death as part of the proper slaughter. He has emphasized this on several occasions. In another Hadith, the Prophet, peace be upon him, says: "When any of you slaughters, let him ensure the animals death." The Prophet, peace be upon him, once saw a man sharpen his blade after having laid his sheep down. He said to him: "Do you want her to die over and over again? Could you not have sharpened your blade first before laying her for slaughter?"
All this goes to show that Islam has a clearly pronounced attitude with respect to treating animals in a humane manner, particularly those which we intend to slaughter for food. When people neglect this, they demonstrate their apathy to what the Prophet, peace be upon him, has taught.
Needless to say, God will ask everyone of us about his lack of response to the Prophet's teachings. Such people will not be able to provide a good reason for their lack of care. Moreover, Islam has forbidden any painful extraction from animals. The people of Arabia used to cut off the humps of camels or the fat part of the sheep while still alive. The Prophet, peace be upon him, realized that such action would torment the animal and he stopped it by making it forbidden to eat. He said: "Whatever is cut off an animal when it is alive is just carrion." It is well known that carrion, which refers to any animal dying by natural causes, is forbidden to eat.
All this goes to show that Islam does not allow any practice which causes any unnecessary suffering to the animal. To cut the throat of an animal and then to pour boiling water on it when it can still feel the pain is certainly unacceptable. People who do that will certainly have to account for it on the day of judgment.
The same applies to fishing. If the catch is found to include some live fish which are unwanted, the proper thing to do is to put them back in the water so that they can survive. The same applies to any other living creature that is taken with the fish. What is not needed should be allowed to live, unless it is harmful. In that case, it should be killed in a humane way.
• Slaughtering of animals: How does it fit into God’s mercy?
How does the act of slaughtering of animals fit into God's mercy? Does not His mercy include animal world?
God is certainly most merciful and His mercy includes animals. A Hadith tells us that God has divided mercy into one hundred portions. He kept 99 portions for Himself in order to bestow His mercy on his creatures and gave one portion to His creatures to share among themselves. It is that portion which is the source of all mercy and humanitarian actions that take place in life.
The Hadith tells us that everything that can be attributed to mercy is part of that one hundredth portion of God's mercy, because God has created life in this fashion. Slaughter may not be as painful to animals as we think, because we tend to think in our own terms. We do not know even how animals feel pain. That God has allowed this to happen means that it is not inhumane.
• Smoking: Ban on the use of tobacco — Islamic view
In a series of articles by Dr. M. Hatham Al-Khayat, the question of health was discussed, with quotations from the Prophet, such as: "There shall be no infliction of harm on self or others", and "He who causes harm to others will be at the receiving end of harm by God." I believe that God has forbidden the use of alcohol, as it is a substance unfit for consumption, and the cause of much tragedy in this world. I applaud the Islamic prohibition of alcoholic drinks. There are other addictive and harmful substances which, paradoxically enough, seem to be permitted. The most glaring example of this is tobacco. As you are well aware, tobacco is highly addictive and extremely hazardous to health, not only of the smokers but of those around him. It is no exaggeration to say that cigarettes kill. I am curious to know why the principle of health protection is not applied to tobacco and other addictive substances when it is applied to drugs and alcohol.
Generally speaking, Muslim scholars are very hesitant when they come to issue a verdict of prohibition on anything. This is largely due to the fact that the authority to forbid or prohibit anything belongs to Allah alone. Moreover, He has given us a detailed account of what He has forbidden us. There is a general rule that everything is permissible, unless it is pronounced otherwise. Therefore, you must have a very solid evidence in support of a verdict of prohibition.
As you realize, tobacco was not known at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, when Islamic legislation was revealed. It was not possible to include among what Allah has forbidden a substance that was not known, saying that when this will be available, it shall be forbidden. Instead, Islam lays down certain principles which should be applied at all times. One of these is the Hadith, or statement by the Prophet, which you have quoted from Dr. Khayat's articles, namely:" There shall be no infliction of harm on self or others." This is a very clear principle and applies to everything that causes harm; whether to oneself or to other people. I agree with you that tobacco is a harm causing substance.
It has been proven beyond any shred of doubt that the smoking of tobacco is very harmful indeed. Tobacco smoke contains more than four thousand substances, most of which are harmful. Indeed, 500 compounds which are available in tobacco smoke are classified as very harmful. Hence, it is not surprising that tobacco is the major cause of lung cancer. Indeed, 90% of all cases of lung cancer are attributed to smoking. Moreover, smoking causes many types of cancer including cancer of the lips, the gums, the larynx and the bladder, and, in women cancer of the uterus. It also causes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, as well as coronary heart disease. Its effects, as you say, are not limited to the smoker. Passive smoking, or the inhaling of tobacco smoke from other people's cigarettes, is also hazardous and causes the same list of diseases. As such, smoking is a habit which is certain to cause harm. Other uses of tobacco, such as chewing and sniffing, are likely to produce very similar results. With such long list of diseases caused by the use of tobacco, your statement that "cigarettes kill" is indeed correct.
Now what verdict would Islam pass on the use of tobacco? The answer is a definite prohibition, although some scholars are still reluctant to do so. May I say, however, that their reluctance is due to the fact that they have not studied the subject thoroughly well. I am absolutely certain that any scholar who studies the problem of smoking and the use of tobacco properly will arrive at the same conclusion.
I say this advisedly. Dr. Al-Khayat, who is Director of Program Management at the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Egypt of the World Health Organization [WHO], sought to have a definitive ruling on smoking and the use of tobacco generally. He collaborated with Al-Azhar, the well known seat of Islamic learning in Egypt. The WHO placed at the disposal of Al-Azhar several scientific reports on the likely effects of the use of tobacco and smoking. It sought a definitive ruling. Al-Azhar put these reports at the disposal of ten of its scholars, seeking a ruling from each one of them. All ten agree that Islam prohibits the use of tobacco. Eight of the ten rulings were absolutely clear that smoking and use of tobacco are forbidden from the Islamic point of view. The other two say that the verdict ranges from "strongly reprehensible" to "forbidden". In the past, scholars used to say that smoking may be discouraged or reprehensible, basing their argument on the fact that tobacco gives a bad smell and that it is a waste of money which could be more beneficially used in some other ways. As you realize, tobacco is addictive.
Faced with a large number of people who are addicted to smoking, a governmental authority will be unwise to withdraw it from the market immediately. That would lead to a vigorous smuggling activity trying to get the substance into the country by illegal means. The price will then rise considerably and a list of endless problems will be encountered. Instead, a government should resort to a sustained campaign of health education, seeking to make people clearly aware of the risks they take when they smoke. At the same time, government authorities should concentrate their efforts of health education at schools, particularly on students at the age when they are most likely to try smoking a cigarette. If this is coupled with a regular tax increase to raise the price of cigarettes every two or three months, then that is bound to reduce people's desire to smoke.
If all that is coupled with a total ban on cigarettes advertising and other methods of tobacco promotion, then we have the right strategy which may, in time, lead us to a tobacco free society. We hope that the authorities will undertake such an integrated approach to reduce the smoking pandemic.