Guest guest Posted August 16, 2007 Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2007: Animal Welfare In Islam by Al-Hafiz Basheer Ahmad Masri The Islamic Foundation & Compassion In World Farming, 2007. (The Islamic Foundation: Markfield Conf. Centre, Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leiscestershire, LE67 9SY, U.K.; <www.islamic-foundation.org.uk>; CIWF: 5-A Charles St., Petersfield, Hampshire GU32 3EH, U.K.; <www.ciwf.org.uk/>.) 164 pages, paperback £9.95, hardback £15.95. Animal Welfare In Islam is an updated and corrected edition of Islamic Concern for Animals, originally issued in 1987 by the Athene Trust, the original name of Compassion In World Farming. Considered the definitive work so far on the obligations that religious Muslims should observe toward animals, the first edition included both English and Arabic texts. The new edition is only in English. Key excerpts have been accessible at <www.islamicconcern.com/-islamicteachings.pdf>, but the whole text had been out of print and hard to find for more than a decade. Similar commentaries are now emerging from various scholars around the world, but the contributions of B.A. Masri (1914-1993) are especially of note. His honorific, " Al-Hafiz, " signifies that he had memorized the entire Quran. After a long teaching career, Masri edited the monthly Islamic Review, 1961-1967, visited and spoke in more than 40 chiefly Muslim nations, and was a well-known lecturer and broadcast commentator on Islamic affairs. " The Islamic instruction and guidance on animal rights and man's obligations concerning them are so comprehensive that he need not go elsewhere for any guidance, " al Masri prefaced. " As believers in the consummate and conclusive revelation of God, " Masri continued, " we are expected to learn from the misconceptions of the past and cast behind us the parochial approach to religion. Fourteen centuries is a long enough period to grasp mentally the fact that the way to spiritual development (Dîn) does not lie in ritualistic observance and the hair-splitting of the Law (Sharâh). Surely it is a long enough period to liberate ourselves from the pre-Islamic traits of our respective cultures. " Not to be cruel or even to be condescendingly kind to the so-called inferior animals is a negative proposition, " al Masri asserted. " Islam wants us to think and act in the positive terms of accepting all species as communities like us in their own right, and not to sit in judgment on them according to our human norms and values. " --Merritt Clifton -- Merritt Clifton Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 Telephone: 360-579-2505 Fax: 360-579-2575 E-mail: anmlpepl Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year; for free sample, send address.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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