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 The Importance of Respecting the
Balance of Nature
"Those who take undue advantage of other species break the Divine Law of
equilibrium in nature — and nature never forgives." The Qur'an Majeed dwells on this
theme recurrently, such as:
Allah has not created all this without truth [Haque]
(Qur'an.10:5), for it is He who created everything and ordained it
with due potential [Taqdir] (Qur'an.25:2) not to allow
any change to corrupt what Allah has created (Qur'an.30:30).
Then a warning is given to
those people who are guilty of infraction, in these words:
Do they not know how many
We have annihilated before them — those whom We had established on earth as more powerful
than We have established you? (Qur'an.6:6).
The Importance of
Conserving Nature
Even when the world is coming to an end, "On Doomsday, if any one has a palm-shoot in
hand, he should plant it" (Musnad of Ahmad, 5:440 and 3:184,
hereafter referred to as Musnad).
Blood Sports
There are many Ahadith forbidding blood sports and the use of animals as targets, some
of which are as follows:
The Prophet condemned those people who take up anything alive as a mere sport.
(Narrated by Abdullah bin 'Omar. Muslim, Vol. 3, Hadith No. 1958)
The Prophet forbade blood sports. (Narrated by Abdullah Ibn
Abbas. Awn, [Ref. No. 32]; 8:15, Hadith No. 2603. Also
"Robson" p. 876 [Ref. No. 15])
The Prophet said: "Do not set up living creatures as a
target." (Narrated by Abdullah
bin Abbas. Muslim Vol. 3, Hadith No. 1957. Also "Robson" p. 872
[Ref. No. 15])
The Prophet condemned those who use a living creature as a target. (Narrated
by Abdullah bin'Omar. Bukhari and Muslim. Also "Robson" p. 872
[Ref. No. 15])
The Prophet forbade an animal being made a target. (Narrated by Anas., Recorded
by Riyad. [Ref. No. 28]; Hadith No. 1606; p. 272)
The Prophet was reported as saying: "Do not make anything having life as a
target." (Narrated by Ibn Abbas. Sahih Muslim — Kitab-us-Said Wa'dh-Dhaba'ih,
Chapter DCCCXXII, Vol. III; Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, Pakistan, 1976; Hadith No.
4813, p. 1079; hereafter referred to as Kitab-us-Said)
Ibn 'Umar happened to pass by a party of men who had tied a hen and were shooting
arrows at it. When they saw Ibn 'Umar coming, they scampered off. Ibn 'Umar angrily
remarked: "Who has done this? Verily! Allah's Messenger has invoked a curse upon one
who does this kind of thing." (id. Narrated by Said bin Jubair)
The Prophet passed by some children who were shooting arrows at a ram. He told them
off, saying: "Do not maim the poor beast." (Narrated by Abdallah bin Ja'far.
An-Nasai, 7:238).
The fact that these Ahadith repeat the same sayings of the Holy
Prophet in slightly
varying wordings shows that he took the matter very seriously and repeated them again and
again on different occasions in the presence of different people. Another significant
point to note in this respect is that, to stop the use of animals as targets or in blood
sport, the Holy Prophet did the same as he did in the case of camel-humps and
sheep-tails, quoted above. He declared their meat as Mujaththema and unlawful (haram) for
consumption, according to the following Hadith:
God's Messenger forbade eating a mujaththema [carrion] of a bird or animal set up
and shot at as a target for shooting. (Narrated by Waqid al-Laithi. Abu al-Darda.
Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 1473, Chapt. "Al-At'imah." Also
"Robson" [Ref. No.15]; p. 874)
Military Research,
Including Wound Labs
One might also appeal to the Islamic law (Shari'ah) to oppose using animals in military
research in general and in the so-called wound laboratories in particular. The
Juristic Rules would seem to support the view that
our wars are our own problems and that we have no right to make the animals suffer for
them.
Animals in War
Even in war, animals cannot be killed except if needed for food. Hazrat Abu Bakr, the
first Caliph after the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (632-634 A.C.), addressed the
Muslim army at a place outside Medina, called Jorf, before sending them off for the battle
of Muta. Among the instructions he gave to the soldiers was not to slaughter animals
except for
food (Qur'an, 22:40; Tabari III, p. 123).
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