Islam and vegetarianism

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Part of a series on the
Islamic Jurisprudence
– a discipline of Islamic studies

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political
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- Islamic cleanliness
  - Ehram
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  - Tayammum
  - Miswak
  - Najis
  - Sexual hygiene
- Dietary laws
  - Vegetarianism
  - Dhabiĥa – slaughter
    - Bans
  - Comparison to Kashrut
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This is a sub-article to Islamic dietary laws and Vegetarianism and religion

Islam explicitly permits the eating of some kinds of meat, but does not make it compulsory. There are several quotes attributed to Muhammad that support a vegetarian lifestyle and recommend kindness to animals rather than eating them. "Masih (the Messiah, Jesus) said, 'Flesh eating flesh? How offensive an act!'"^[1] According to Karen Armstrong in her book A History of God, "The Koran does permit meat-eating, but it also encourages healthful foods (which many Muslims conclude does not include animal products). Given these traditions, many Shi'ite Muslims and the Islamic mystics, such as the Sufis, see vegetarianism as the Islamic ideal and choose this diet."

Although some Sufis have practiced vegetarianism, but to date, there has been no serious discourse on the possibility of vegetarianism interpretations. Richard C. Foltz, Professor of religious studies at Concordia University in Montreal, states that the Qur'an aims to enjoin compassion in treatments of animals but few Muslims have made the observation that not slaughtering animals is the most compassionate one. Foltz, after comparing the situation in seventh century Arabia with today and closely analyzing the relevant Qur'anic verses, concludes that it is possible that the future Islamic legal scholars find a basis in the Qur'an and Sunna for vegetarainsm.^[2]

The Qur'an is clear about the special lives of animals:

"Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praise all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? Each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise, and Allah knows well all that they do." Sura 24:41

"There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have We omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end." Sura 6:38

Because of these verses, a Muslim must not eat any animal that has been mistreated in a number of ways [1]

Fatwas on Vegetarianism

Hamza Yusuf on eating meat (from the audio tape "The Science of Shari'ah"[2]):

"Meat is not a necessity in Shari'ah, and in the old days most Muslims used to eat meat, if they were wealthy, like middle class—once a week on Friday. If they were poor—on the Eids."

"So traditionally Muslims were semi-vegetarians. The Prophet was, I mean, technically, the Prophet (SAWS) was in that category. He was not a meat-eater. Most of his meals did not have meat in them. And the proof of that is clearly in the Muwatta—when Sayyidina Umar says, 'Beware of meat, because it has an addiction like the addiction of wine.' And the other hadith in the Muwatta—there is a chapter called 'Bab al-Laham,' the chapter of laham, the chapter of meat. Both are from Sayyidina Umar. And Umar, during his khilafa, prohibited people from eating meat two days in a row. He only allowed them to eat [it] every other day. And the khalifa has that right to do that. He did not let people eat meat every day � he saw one man eating meat every day, and he said to him, 'Every time you get hungry you go out and buy meat? Right? In other words, every time your nafs wants meat, you go out and buy it?' He said, 'Yeah, Amir al-Mumineen, ana qaram,' which in Arabic, 'qaram' means 'I love meat'—he's a carnivore, he loves meat. And Sayyidina Umar said, 'It would be better for you to roll up your tummy a little bit so that other people can eat.'"

"Now Umar, if there was a prophet after the Prophet, it would have been Umar. And that is really verging on prophecy, that statement. Because if you study the modern meat industry, you will find out that a lot of the famine in the world is a direct result of the overconsumption of meat in countries like the United States and Canada and Europe, because the amount of grain needed to produce 1 pound of meat, right, is much greater than the amount you need to produce grain itself. And beef in particular—I really recommend Rifkin's book Beyond Beef. It's an extraordinary book. And it's interesting 'Baqara' is also a chapter of the Qur'an ('the cow'), because beef-eating societies just have massive impact on the environment, on natural resources, on all these things. And traditionally the Muslims were not cow-eaters, they were sheep and lamb [-eaters] when they did eat meat." [26]