Source: The Guardian
By Andrew Brown
“Animal welfare takes precedence over religion” declared Denmark’s ministry of agriculture when a ban on ritual slaughter came into effect this week. There were immediate accusations of antisemitism and Islamophobia from Jews and Muslims, even though both communities are still free to import meat killed by their preferred methods, and even though no animals have in fact been slaughtered without pre-stunning in Denmark for the past 10 years.
These disputes may indeed cast some light on our attitudes towards outsider communities – I remember concerns about halal slaughter being expressed in Bradford in 1984 as part of an early row about Muslim integration and lack of integration. But what is really remarkable is the light that they don’t cast on animal cruelty for secular reasons.
Editor’s note: Some of the comments are worth reading
Taking lives, foods and shelters of others are cruelty, so, don’t take meat, fish and vegetables for food because they have lives. Don’t milk animals because they are their babies food. Don’t take drinks because they are the abodes of so many living creatures. Don’t let mothers do breast-feeding because it harms their beauty…..Just be the champion of saints of mankind! ” – Do this words sounds funny? Hope, don’t for those champions who are the modern advocates of “RIGHTS”. Stunning is unethical. Stunning causes the animal SO much pain. Halal is HUMANE and CARING to the animal. Denmark is a country that SUPPORTS animal cruelty. Science has shown the Halal is peaceful. Science has shown that stunning causes animals PAIN and SUFFERING. Centuries ago people were more natural. Stop perverted GMO and perverted food practices. Islam is the best way of life.
The animal needs to die by the slaughtering process itself. If the animal dies by any other process (dies naturally, stunned, get hit by a car, etc), the animal is considered a carcass and Muslims are not allowed to eat them. The reason why Islam emphasize on slaughtering is to make the meat fresher and healthier for mankind to eat. During slaughtering process, two veins are cut, making all the blood flows out from the animal’s body. The removal of blood helps also to remove the bacteria that helps the decaying process of the dead animal. Even if there is no bacteria inside the blood (which is absurd), you wouldn’t want to drink or eat animal’s blood right? What more a frozen, preserved, coagulated blood that was left inside the meat after it was stunned. Im not saying slaughtering removes 100% of the blood, at least the process helps to remove most of it.
It is important to separate the concept of Halal slaughter from misconduct and mistreatment of animals. Mistreatment of animals is a common problem in all slaughterhouses, Muslim or otherwise and it does need to be addressed (e.g. see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lplttvZ6LxE). However Halal slaughter which is quite simple is a separate matter (people make it seem very complicated – it’s not: just ensure the name of God is said and most of the three main vessel -the two large arteries and the wind pipe- is severed as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to minimize suffering to the animal – other considerations like facing Makkah, not letting the animal see blood etc. are optional whenever possible).
God has mandated Halal slaughter in part because animals are creatures with souls and are not like fruits that we may simply pick and eat. We should reflect on our taking a life for our own benefit, remember God – whose permission we take when we do the slaughter, and be grateful for the blessing of the meat. In that process we *try* to minimize suffering. Now there are all sorts of opinions on how and to what extent the animals suffer – but none of the current research is definitive and at any rate the nature of scientific research is that it is subject to change.
Unless an animal communicates to us about how it feels pain we can only try and the Halal method is one ancient method connected to religious texts. Large predatory animals also kill their prey by attacking the same area that is cut in the Halal process so nature seems to indicate the effectiveness of that area in slaughter. But my point is that the very fact that Islam stipulates Halal slaughter is respect to the animals and an admonition to humans not to treat them like mere “food products” which can still happen even with the most advanced and “humane” (given the current state of research) slaughter techniques.
For me banning Halal and Kosher slaughter on the basis of scientific research (as opposed to merely recommending or encouraging methods that are more humane given what the current science indicates) is a clear act of antagonism against, and subordination of Islam and Judaism to modern beliefs associated with (non-definitive) research and as such it is a modern form of bigotry. How unfortunate it is that some societies which claim freedom of conscience as a core value deem such measures fit.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk