'The Science and Implications of Animal Sentience'

krsna · March 18, 2005

Landmark International Conference on our Relationship with Animals 17-18 March, London.

'From Darwin to Dawkins' a major international conference on 'The Science and Implications of Animal Sentience' is being held at London’s prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on 17th and 18th March 2005. Speakers include the world’s foremost experts in animal science and leading names in agriculture and food, conservation, government policy, education, philosophy and ethics - people who collectively play a key role in the setting of world standards on animal welfare. A keynote address will be given by renowned primatologist Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Sheep can recognise at least 50 flock mates: they are able to think about them when they are absent. Elephants mourn their dead, sometimes placing their bones in one spot. N’Kisi the parrot knows 1,000 words and creates grammatically correct phrases to communicate with humans. Lizards can sense pleasure, wood mice create “signposts” from sticks and stones to guide each other, pigs can use deceit to gain advantages…

Delegates from 50 nations will hear how our rapidly increasing awareness of animal sentience might affect all areas of human life, from farming to retailing and government policy - and also the ways in which these may have to change. Such are the implications for business that food giant McDonald’s and the World Bank’s private sector arm are fielding speakers.

Joyce D’Silva, CEO of the CIWF Trust, says: “We have been overwhelmed by the response to the conference: one European government alone is sending 30 delegates. But we’re even more pleased with the impact the conference is set to have globally. It places animal sentience firmly on the global agenda. It’s a subject that all governments and businesses will have to address, not least because consumer concern about the treatment of animals will increasingly influence spending patterns in the coming decades.”

krsna · March 18, 2005

American convert to Islam, Siraadj Munir, ponders the issues.

Do animals have souls? Does my cat have a soul, and if he does, what is the nature of this soul? The question comes up with embarrassing frequency when beloved family pets die. There was a discussion on-line not long ago, and the not-so-surprising consensus was that ordinary people believe that their cats, dogs, birds, gerbils, fish, etc., do possess souls. Professionals such as clergy and academics such as theologians have by and large the opposite opinion.

In Western civilization animals were traditionally considered as not having souls. The soul was given to Humankind because Humankind was given Reason, and it was by use of Reason that Humankind could receive Revelation from the Almighty, and using Reason and Free Will, was able to decide whether or not to obey laws and rules emanating from the Divine. Speech and Rational Discourse were the hallmark of the human race. Animals were, after, controlled by instinct rather than reason and could not speak, let alone reason.

Yet I have been taught and do believe that everything created by God chants or sings His praise. Using the Islamic liturgical term, everything in the universe performs Dhikr [remembrance/awareness of God]: mammals, birds, fish, trees, and grass. Even rocks perform Dhikr, not only human beings.

Before asking if fish and rocks also have souls or the nature of their souls, one must ask: Is the performance of Dhikr voluntary or involuntary? Ostensibly, people come together voluntarily to sit and chant the Most Beautiful Names of Allah and His Attributes. But if it is the case that as food provides nourishment for the body, that Dhikr provides nourishment for the soul, then if human instinct and not reason compels people to seek out food for survival, then performing Dhikr ought to be equally instinctive, and therefore involuntary!

But a large percentage of Humankind is not Muslim and does not perform Dhikr. Does this mean that it is unaware of the harm it is doing to itself? One can take it one step further and point out that an undetermined portion of the world's Muslim population does not perform Dhikr. What, them, is the health of their souls?

The soul was given to Humankind to be tested in this life and to be judged in the Hereafter in accordance to the degree the person obeyed or disobeyed Divine commands. As animals supposed do not possess Reason, they are not free to accept or reject Divine instruction, and as they supposed do not possess souls, they cannot be rewarded or punished. One would conclude, therefore, that not only do animals not have souls, we shall be bereft of their company in the Hereafter.

Yet recent research indicates that while animals not blessed with human Reason, they are capable to some limited degree of deciding to do one thing or another. In other words, their behavior is not totally governed by instinct. Adding to the confusion is the recognition that animals exhibit emotion. Perhaps theirs is not the same range of emotion as that of humans, but it is undeniable that our dogs and cats, and perhaps even our fish and turtles, display affection, experience loneliness and the need for companionship, and even feel loss. I am not certain there are definitive answers to any or all of the questions raised thus far. But there are conundrums aplenty.

Why am I so suddenly concerned if animals have souls? It goes back to an incident last month on the subway. The car was already crowded when I got on, and the weather was hot, making conditions on the train almost unbearable.

Heads turned toward a loud voice singing from one end of the car. It was a blind man with his guide dog walking slowly up the moving train, a cup in his free hand, while singing for spare change. People made way for the man and his dog, and most looked the other way.

What struck me immediately was the dog. It was not a German shepherd or a Labrador retriever, not the customary breeds used as guide dogs. No, it was a small scruffy black mutt, whose harness was very much too large for her.

I could not help but notice that her hindquarters quivered with fear, and her tail was tucked between her hind legs as she went slowing up the moving car. As I raised my hand to drop some coins into his cup, she looked up at me. Her eyes showed what I could only describe as an odd mixture of fear of the crowd, the noise, the moving train, and sheer determination. She was going to discharge her duty of guiding her human companion, no matter what.

Her eyes met mine, and I felt an enormous outpouring of compassion for this pathetic little dog. She knew what she had to do, and nothing, not even her own fear, was going to stop her.

Does this little black dog, so otherwise accursed in Islamic tradition, have a soul? I hope so, but Allah knows best.

Allah! That your human creations should only display toward You a fraction of the devotion this miserable little black mutt demonstrated for her companion, upon whom she depended for her sustenance!