Should all Muslims Go Vegan?
The number of vegan Muslims is increasing around the world. Since Veganism offers a solution to the problems from greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, land usage, deforestation, world hunger, and the suffering of billions of sentient animals it is understandable. However many of these Muslim vegans face challenges in their communities due to engrained traditions and misinterpreted definitions of the terms like “Halal” (related article). What we should know is there are many verses in the Qur’an that support veganism. Therefore, I decided to get an overview of the my interpretation of the veganic verses, especially the ones about diet, by analyzing the Qur’an.
When I started reading the Qur’an, one thing I realized was there are general/broader rules, advices and prohibitions (Harams). But there are also some specific ones. The general ones are about how you should live your life, and what should be your values and borders. Specific ones on the other hand, are mostly referring to a certain topic (such as food), certain situations or people.
First, I want to start with the general rules and continue with more specific rules such as food-related prohibitions and suggestions. Before that, we need to know that the verses of the Qur’an do not cancel out each other. Instead, they create one coherent message. Therefore, I tried to look from a broader perspective and see the connections between the verses spread around the book without losing the context which is the Quran itself.
So, let’s start with one of the main rules in the Qur’an
“…do not waste! He(God) does not like the wasteful.” 6:141
Maybe you already feel there is a relationship with this verse and veganism. Since the growing awareness that animal farming is the most wasteful way of using the resources of the earth. It is shown that each day, a person who follows a plant-based diet saves 4164 Liters of water, 18 kg of grain, 3 m² of forested land, 9 kg CO2, and at least one animal life compared to an average American diet. On top of that, the waste of the farm animals we bred is damaging the soil quality, causing water and air pollution. Researchs suggests that if we stop breeding and eating animals and everyone shifts to a plant-based diet we would reduce global land use for agriculture by 75% on top of stopping current deforestation. With the this land being freed up, we can help the regeneration of the forest or we can feed the increasing human population easily. Therefore, isn’t eating plant-based foods more in line with the advice of the Qur’an about not being wasteful? You can check the environmental impact of the foods we eat from here.
Another important piece of knowledge and kind of general advice from the Qur’an is;
“…God loves the graceful.” 3:134
Muslims generally claim that Halal slaughter is the most humane way of taking the life of an animal. But wouldn’t it be more kind and humane if we just spare the lives of these billions of innocent beings and don’t hurt them at all? Why are we loving, protecting, and being a friend with certain types of animals, but seeing others as an industrial products while they have the same wish to live a happy live? Isn’t it more graceful to be kind to all of the animals instead of some of them? Most of the Halal slaughtered animals are coming from industrial farms. These places separate the animals from their natural environment, forcefully breed them, selectively modify them to give more meat, more milk, more eggs and more money. Then, they take the babies away from their mothers, kill the male babies right away, keep the females in captivity to use their milk/eggs until the animal has no power anymore and eventually sent them to slaughter. Only a small percentage of animals lives in better conditions might be living happy lives without being harmed. Then the question is: Do you think those animals want to be killed, or instead, want to continue to enjoy their peaceful lives. Wouldn’t it be more graceful to eat beans, which are always Halal, instead of taking the life of a happy animal?
The next verse is about some general prohibitions (Harams). Since it is a long list of prohibitions you can check the full version from the Qur’an, but for now please focus on the highlight.
“Say: “Come let me recite what your Lord has made Haram (religiously forbidden) for you ..…… do not take a life which God has made sacred, except for a just cause!…..” 6:151
Many people think this rule only applies to humans but in the original text it does not say a “human life”, it says “a life” in general. Therefore, there is no such restriction and I think it applies to any sentient being including the the animals. Also, this verse emphasizes that it is forbidden (Haram) “taking a life unjustifiably” which is very in line with the vegan message. The question is: does the taste, pleasure, habits or traditions justifies taking the life of an animal? Is a sandwich or burger more valuable than the entire life of a sentient being?
“But what about the nutrients, don’t we need to eat animal products for the nutrients we get from them?”
Well according to science we can get all the nutrients we need from the plants sufficiently and live healthy lives. Also, thanks to the advancements in the food system, many of us can reach variety of plants, beans, fruits, and nuts at any time. So, does nutrients that we can easily get also from the plants justify killing them? I can not find any good justification to take a life that God made sacred. Unless we are in a survival situation where we cannot find any plants but somehow surrounded with animals. This scenario is of course very hypothetical if we are living in a society with average welfare.
Next, we are going to examine the specific rules about food and how to eat. In fact, this is summarized in one sentence;
“Eat from what God has provided for you, Halal (not forbidden) and Tayyib (clean/fair/wholesome), and be responsible towards God in whom you acknowledge.” 5:88
As you realized there are two different criteria; Halal and Tayyib. Let’s first talk about Halal. Unlike the plants, in Qur’an eating certain animals and animal products are prohibited (made Haram). The animals which are not prohibited are called Halal (not forbidden/allowed). These animals can be eaten by following certain Halal requirements. Here we need to remember what I sayed in teh beginnig: the verses of the Qur’an do not cancel out each other. This should bring us to an “Aha moment”. Although eating most animal products is allowed with certain conditions we always forgot the first and top condition given in verse 6:151. “do not take a life which God has made sacred, except for a just cause!…..” So, the first condition is having a good justification. After that, we can think about which animals are forbidden, which are not, what are the other requirements for the animals that are allowed, do the animals need to be treated in a certain way, killed in a certain way, do we need to be respectful, how we should prepare the product, etc. But those are all the things we need to consider after we have a good justification.
So, let’s assume we have a valid justification to eat that animal, and that animal is Halal and can be killed according to the Halal requirements. Is that enough? Unfortunately, while choosing what to eat many Muslims make their judgment only based on whether it is “Halal certified” or not, and ignore that being Halal is not the only criteria to decide if you can eat that product. In Qur’an, there is another equally important criterion that is repeated constantly together with the Halal criterion which we call “Tayyib”. And Tayyib means clean/ fair/ wholesome. After looking at the situation in the industry, eating any animal products is neither clean nor fair nor wholesome. It is a system that generates many diseases. 80% of antibiotics produced in the world are given to animalsa and these antibiotics develop antibiotic resistance in humans. Moreover, many studies say that the more animal products we consume, the more cancer, diabetes, and heart disease we get. These are the top killers of today’s society. If we consider the environmental pollution caused by animal farming, the health risks of eating animal products and unfair treatments of the animals then should we consider eating them still as “Tayyib” by definition?
Let’s say you have a good justification and found a Halal animal (not forbidden/allowed), and it is also the most Tayyib (clean/fair/wholesome) option you have for the moment. Is that all? There is actually one more thing you need to remember;
“Do not eat from what God’s name has not been remembered…” 6:121
According to Qur’an, you need to “remember God’s name” on the thing that you eat. And the most repeated names of God in the Quran are; Rahman which means Compassionate Giver of Life / Compassionate in essence and Rahim which means Compassionate Protector of Life / Compassionately behaves. Do you think anyone who contemplate about these names of God before eating understands the God given life of an animal is being taken?
That’s all! If all those rules and requirements are a little bit confusing for you, you can look at the Qur’an-based decision chart given in the cover image while choosing what to eat.
And the last words; Don’t we need to remember that God gave us the mission to spread compassion in the world? Don’t we need to respect God’s creation and be merciful towards the most vulnerable? Should all Muslims go Vegan? Take a closer look at the Qu’ran-based decision chart and decide for yourself.
As a bonus some eyeopening documentaries:
