Fatwa re-translation

[Guest guest]

Mon, 19 May 2008 11:10:55 -0500

Attached is my own translation of the fatwa Ahmed El Sherbiny

sent out last week regarding slaughter and transport.

Upon reading the Arabic carefully, I noticed that the original English

translation, which was done by a professional translator in Cairo, did not

sufficiently convey the meaning of the Arabic and also had several areas

that were difficult to follow. This fatwa is a wonderful document and can

be used in many advocacy situations and I want to be sure it is as clear as

possible to an English reading audience. Thank you again Ahmed for this

accomplishment.

To avoid any confusion about the source of the translation, I

have given my

name and contact information on each page.

Please do circulate widely, and I will be happy to answer any questions

people might have about the significance of a fatwa from Azhar, etc.

Best regards,

Kristen Stilt

Associate Professor of Law and History

Northwestern University

357 East Chicago Avenue

Chicago, IL 60611

www.law.northwestern.edu

Translation by Dr. Kristen Stilt

Associate Professor, Northwestern University

contact: <stiltstilt

 

 

[Document One: Letter from Ahmed el-Sherbiny to Shaikh Tantawy]

 

Egyptian Society of Animal Friends

Communication 2798 of year 2006

 

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful

 

His Excellency Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy

Shaikh of Azhar

May God protect Him

 

God's Peace, Blessing and Mercy upon You:

 

It is well-known that Islam has called for kindness to animals, and

has made human beings responsible for caring for them in order that

animals remain beneficial for humans and do not turn into a source of

danger to life and health. This Islamic care for animals stands out

as one of the aspects of Islamic civilization that is concerned with

animals and humans alike.

 

In a time when Islam is subjected to these unjust attacks that accuse

it of aggressiveness, wanton disregard for human life, and

destruction of the environment, highlighting Islam's concern with

kindness to animals is regarded an effective subject area through

which to defend against many of these wrongful accusations.

 

In order to achieve this lofty goal, we submit to Your Excellence two

questions that call for correct answers according to Islamic law, so

that the West is able to be informed of the civilized face of Islam

on the matter of kindness to animals. Because these two questions are

related to violent and incorrect Islamic practices in the treatment

of animals, from which one could understand that they are part of

Islam, Islam could be insulted as a result.

 

These two questions are:

 

Question 1

Some of the people who slaughter animals and prepare the meat for

consumers in the slaughterhouses commit cruel and violent acts with

the aim of debilitating the animal so that they are able to control

the animal. These acts include gouging the eye of the animal, cutting

the tail, cutting a tendon of the legs, and piercing its body with a

knife so that it bleeds and loses strength, all of which are done to

control the animal with the least amount of human effort. What is the

view of Islamic law on this?

 

Question 2

During long-distance transport between the countries of animals'

rearing and the countries of their slaughter, the animals are exposed

to all types of cruelty, such as hunger, thirst, and severe crowding.

These types of cruelty lead to the death of some of them or their

affliction with deadly diseases that affect the animal's surroundings

and their meat. These results could be transmitted to human health.

What is the rule of Islamic law on this? And what are the correct

Islamic legal ways of transporting animals, from the perspective of

the length of time and the care that must be provided to them?

 

May God give you success in serving Islam and the Muslims

 

Sincerely,

Ahmed el-Sherbiny

Attorney at Law

Chairperson of the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends

 

 

 

[Document Two: Shaikh Tantawi's reply to Ahmed el-Sherbiny]

 

In the Name of God, Most Compassionate and Most Merciful

 

Thanks be to God, and prayers and peace upon the noblest of God's

messengers, Muhammad b. Abdullah, and God' prayers be upon Him, His

family, His companions, upon whomever has followed them to the Day of

Judgment, and upon all of the Prophetic Messengers.

 

Mr. Ahmed el-Sherbiny, lawyer before the Court of Cassation and

Chairman of the Egyptian Society for Animal Friends, has presented a

letter that includes a request for a legal opinion on two matters.

The first matter deals with those people who torture an animal at its

slaughter by committing acts that are contradictory with treatment

with mercy. The second matter deals with long-distance transport of

animals from one country to another by means that do not provide for

the animal's safety or its kind treatment, in the method described in

detail in the letter.

 

First:

Islamic law requires that the animal at the time of its slaughter

must be treated with kindness and with procedures that guarantee to

it mercy. All of this is covered by the beneficence that the Prophet

(God's peace and blessings upon Him) ordered in his authenticated

saying: " God has ordered beneficence in everything, so if you kill,

be as kind as possible in the killing, and if you slaughter, be as

kind as possible in the slaughtering. One of you should sharpen your

knife and one should make the animal be slaughtered comfortable. "

(Related by Muslim). This saying of the Prophet proves that slaughter

must be done with kindness and mercy to the animal, and is part of

the meaning conveyed by the required beneficence pronounced in the

saying.

 

Kindness and mercy to the animal is also understood from the

requirement of sharpness of the knife that will be used in the

slaughter, so that the animal is not pained by slaughter with a dull

instrument. This is also what He (God's peace and blessings upon Him)

clearly shows in His saying " one should make the animal comfortable. "

Fulfilling this order requires doing everything that makes the animal

comfortable at the time of slaughter.

 

Many authenticated sayings of the Prophet show the prohibition on

undertaking to sharpen or hone the instrument of slaughter in front

of the animal to be slaughtered. The Prophet (God's peace and

blessings upon Him) saw a man sharpening his knife in front of the

animal that was going to be slaughtered, and the Prophet forbade

that, and said to the man: " Do you want to slaughter the animal

twice-once by sharpening the knife in front of the animal, and the

second time by cutting its throat? "

 

Imam Ali (May God be pleased with him) also forbade slaughtering a

sheep in front of the other sheep or any other animal, so that the

animal's perceptions are not harmed at the last moment of its life.

 

All of this proof clearly shows that any action incompatible with

kindness to animals or treating them any way other than with mercy at

the time of slaughter-such as in the manners mentioned in detail in

the question-is a forbidden and sinful act, and is inconsistent with

the kindness to animals that Islam requires. This is the answer to

the first question.

 

Second:

With regard to the second question, we advise that Islam's call for

kindness to animals and for treating them with mercy applies to all

of the situations in which this mercy is necessary. This includes

transporting animals. The transport must be done in a way that is

comfortable and that ensures the animal's safety. The means of

transport must protect against the causing of pain to the animal,

threat to the life of the animal, or affliction of the animal with

diseases contagious to humans or others. This rule is inferred from

the saying of the Prophet, God's peace and blessings upon Him, that

" Humans have the chance to perform a charitable act in their

treatment of every living being. " And also in His saying, Peace be

upon Him: " A woman went to hell because of a cat that she had

confined without leaving it any food, or allowing the cat access to

bugs or fruits of the earth to eat. " These two sayings of the

Prophet, and others like them, show that the treatment of animals

must be based upon the principle of mercy in every situation,

including in the transport of them from one place to another.

 

Causing pain to the animal during transport as described in the

letter is considered an action prohibited and forbidden in Islamic

law, assuming, of course, that the situation is as described in the

question.

 

God knows best and is most supreme.

 

Chief Imam and Shaikh of al-Azhar

Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi

signed April 24, 2008

 

--

Kim Bartlett, President of Animal People, Inc.

Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

email <ANPEOPLE web-site: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/