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We live in a world
inhabited not only by humans but also by
countless other creatures that share the world
with us. Animals provide resources and services
that we use. They form part of the life-support
system of the earth on which all life depends.
Every kind of thing is produced on the earth in
due balance and measure. The Qur'an amply
describes this ecological and organic vision of
the world:
The earth
We have spread out (like a carpet), set
thereon mountains firm and immovable, and
produced therein all kinds of things in due
balance. (al-Qur'an - Chapter 15, Verse
19)
We see that each
animal has been created with a specific purpose,
either to benefit human beings directly, or as
symbols for people to ponder over God's
greatness (al-Qur'an - Chapter 16, Verse 5, 8;
Chapter 24, Verse 45).
And, you will see many of them
striving with one another to hasten in
sin and exceeding the limits, and their
eating of what is unlawfully required.
Certainly evil is that which they do.
Why do not the learned men and
doctors of law prohibit them from
speaking of what is sinful and their
eating of what is unlawfully acquired?
Certainly evil is that which they work.
(al-Qur'an- Chapter 5, Verses 62-63)
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Say, Did you note
how Allah (SWT) sends down to you all
kinds of provisions, then you render
some of them unlawful, and some lawful?
Say, Did Allah (SWT) give you permission
to do this? Alternatively, do you
fabricate lies and attribute them to
Allah? (al-Qur'an- Chapter
10, Verse 59)
Meat of
that Animal Slaughtered by Non-Muslims is
Forbidden in Islam al-Qur'an has
clearly stated that consuming that animal's
meat, which non-Muslims have slaughtered, and in
an un-Islamic manner, is forbidden and
prohibited.
Allah (SWT) has forbidden you what dies
of itself, and blood, and the flesh of
the swine, and that over which any other
name than that of Allah (SWT) has been
invoked . (al-Qur'an- Chapter
2, Verse 173)
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Qur'an, Chapter 5,
Verse 3, and in Chapter 6, verse 146 calls for a
similar behavior in Muslims. For the meat to be
halal and consumed by Muslims, the following
must take place and this is agreed in general by
ALL Muslims around the world.
The person who
slaughters the animal must be a Muslim.
The name of
Allah must be pronounced before incision is
made, facing the animal in the direction of
the sacred Ka'bah in Makkah al-Mukarramah.
The instrument
being used for slaughtering should be
extremely sharp.
The incision
should be made in the neck just below the
glottis, cutting the throat and esophagus,
the jugular vein and the carotid artery
without cutting the spinal cord.
Kamoonpuri (1998)
makes a further statement and says that the
person slaughtering the animal must not
interfere with the carcass before convulsions
have completely ceased and the animal is
pronounced dead. Skinning or dismembering the
animal just after the slaughter is also not
recommended in Islam.
Youth and Muslims of today question as to why
the Book of Allah has such strict commands when
people in modern societies live together and
work together as friends and brothers, and
strongly believe in sharing. There are two
reasons for this ruling, and we shall explain
both, and in the light of conscious and
intelligent info-energy that we have already
introduced. |
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Animals Slaughtered the Muslim Way does
NOT Cause Harm to the Animal
The Prophet (S) has said:
Allah (SWT)
calls for mercy in everything. So be
merciful when you slaughter; sharpen your
blade to relieve its pain.
According to
Kamoonpuri (1998), the prescribed method of
slaughtering an animal in Islam saves the animal
from any kind of pain. When the animals major
blood vessel in the neck is cut-off that
produces an immediate stunning effect. The
advantage of not cutting the spinal cord is that
the brain continues to send it electrical
impulses to the heart demanding blood. As all
the blood is drained, the pipeline, which takes
blood to the brain, has already been cut off.
The violent reactions in the animal are from the
natural muscular contraction and no pain is
experienced. Kamoonpuri (1998) mentions two
researchers, Gucel and Erbil who subscribe to
the fact that blood can cause toxicity in the
animal's meat, all has to be drained, and the
Islamic way of slaughtering takes care of that.
Schultz and Hazim surgically implanted several
electrodes at various points on the skull of
animal subjects; then making a deep incision
with a sharp knife on the neck of the jugular
veins and carotid arteries of both sides. Some
animals were then slaughtered by making a swift,
deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck
cutting the jugular veins and the carotid
arteries of sides as well as the trachea and
esophagus (Islamic Method). Other animals were
stunned using a Captive Bolt Pistol (CBP).
During the experiment, electroencephalograph
(EEG) and electrocardiograms (EKG) recorded the
condition of the brain and the heart of all
animals. The results were as follows: |
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Islamic
Method
1. During the
first three seconds after slaughtering, the EEG
did not record any change, thus indicating that
the animal did not feel any pain during or
immediately after the incision.
2. For the following three seconds, the EEG
recorded a condition of deep sleep
unconsciousness. This is due to the large
quantity of blood gushing out of the body.
3. After this total of six seconds, the EEG
recorded zero level, showing no feeling of pain
at all.
4. As the brain message (EEG) dropped to zero
level, the heart was still pounding and the body
convulsing vigorously (a reflex action of the
spinal cord) driving maximum blood out of the
body. |
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Stunning
1. The animals were apparently unconscious soon
after stunning but the EEG showed severe pain
immediately after stunning.
2. The heart of the stunned animal stopped
beating earlier than the one slaughtered the
Islamic way thus resulting in the retention of
more blood in the meat.
Professor Schultz and Dr. Hazim of the Hanover
University in Germany concluded the following
through an experiment:
Islamic way of
slaughtering is the most humane,
compassionate and sympathetic method of
slaughter (no pain, deep sleep recorded due
to the large quantity of blood gushing out
from the body), and that the captive bolt
stunning practiced by the Western methods
causes severe pain to the animal.
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Humankind and Animals
Allah created animals for the service of humans
and are a boon to him, and one must utilize them
in the name of Allah. We should make judicious
use of them for our benefit and must be grateful
to God. Due care should be there. There is a
hierarchical ranking and distinction between
living beings. The animals are superior to
plants, which can be sacrificed for them, while
plants and animals can be sacrificed for man.
However, only the prescribed and permitted
animals can be sacrificed (al-Qur'an - Chapter
6, Verse 145; Chapter 5, Verses 3, 96; Chapter
6, Verse 121; Chapter 40, Verses 79-81) for
humans in a prescribed manner. Humankind should
remember that the earth belongs to all living
creatures.
And, He has set out
the earth for all creatures.
(al-Qur'an - Chapter 55, Verse 10)
In Qur'an:
And, Allah has made
subservient to you whatsoever is in the
heavens and whatsoever is in the earth - all
of it - on His behalf. Verily, in this are
signs for people who reflect.
(al-Qur'an- Chapter 45, Verse 13)
What, do they not see that We have
created the cattle for them, of what Our
hands have wrought, and of them, they are
the masters?
In addition, We subjected unto the
cattle; and some of them they ride upon, and
some of them they eat. And, for them, in
them are benefits and drinks. What, will
they not be grateful?
(al-Qur'an- Chapter 36, Verses 71-73)
In such cases, it
is also possible that the animal offers itself
for slaughter. The recommendation to hunters is
to invoke the name of Allah even when they are
about to fire a bullet, or send a dog, and so
forth, to subdue the animal. Moreover, because
certain specific animals have been sent into
this world to care and provide food to the
humans, the act of invoking the name of Allah
would remind them of their responsibility in
this world
It is reported that Prophet Isa (AS) once called
a Deer and it came towards him and agreed to be
slaughtered. Prophet Isa (AS) consumed the meat
of the animal and then, by the permission of
Allah, he gave life to the animal and
resurrected the Deer. The animal then
disappeared in the bushes. |
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Allah confirms
that animals are conscious, have a purpose in
life and will return to Allah:
There is not an
animal (that lives) on the earth, or 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.
(Qur'an - Chapter 6, Verse 38)
Many passages from
the Qur'an and traditions state that all animals
are endowed with spirit and mind and there is
ample evidence in the Qur'an to suggest that
animals' consciousness of spirit and mind is of
a degree higher than mere instinct and
intuition.
We are told in the Qur'an that animals have a
cognizance of their Creator and, hence, they pay
their obeisance to Him by adoration and worship:
Don't you see that it
is Allah Whose praises are celebrated by all
beings in the heavens and on earth, and by
the birds with extended wings? Each one
knows its prayer and psalm, And Allah is
aware of what they do.
(al-Qur'an - Chapter 24, Verse 41)
The following
verse tells us how all the elements of nature
and all the animal kingdom function in harmony
with God's laws; it is only humans who infringe,
and thus bring affliction on themselves. The
Qur'an dwells on this theme repeatedly to
emphasize the point that man should bring
himself into harmony with nature, according to
the laws of God - as all other creation does:
Don't you see that
all things that are in the heavens and on
earth pay adoration to Allah - the sun, the
moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees,
the animals, and a large number among
mankind? However, there are many (humans)
who do not and deserve chastisement.
(al-Qur'an - Chapter 22, Verse 18)
A Dutch team of
scientists recently found scientific evidence of
mental suffering in animals. They have
discovered that, like the human brain, an
animal's brain too releases a substance called
Endorphin to cope with emotional distress and
pain, caused by frustration or conflict. This
substance is 100 times more powerful than
morphine. (Report by Compassion in World Farming
Agscene, August 1985, 20 Lavant Street,
Petersfield, Hants, England).
History also narrates that when Namrud was
preparing the fire for Prophet Ibrahim (AS),
there was a little frog that used to fill its
mouth with water, and pour it on the fire to try
to extinguish the fire. Apparently, the frog was
just fulfilling his part of the responsibility
if the animal is asked about this on the Day of
Judgment.
Animals have been reported and observed to
communicate with humans, and many such incidents
have been recorded in the blessed life of the
Prophet (S). In several instances, and as we
shall note later, animals have complained of
their hunger to the Prophet (S). They have even
witnessed the Prophet's leadership on many
occasions. Many instances in the history of
Prophet Suleiman show his ability to communicate
with animals. Shamanic practitioners have also
been observed to communicate with animals and
ask their spirits before they make a sacrifice.
Apparently, Allah (SWT) has given this power to
humans as well. It is therefore possible that
animals offer themselves when one invokes the
name of Allah, as the animal would associate the
name as his or her creator and his or her
responsibilities on earth. Allah knows better. |
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Allamah Taba
Tabai (AR) discusses the following about
sacrificing animals and consuming their flesh,
and is worth mentioning in his own words:
It shows that
as far as eating of meats are concerned,
humanity is divided in numerous categories.
The spectrum shows on one side total
prohibition and on the other unrestricted
indulgence. When he uses some meats, he
follows the dictates of nature, and when he
refrains from some items, it emanates from
some ideology, or is a result of his second
nature.
The Buddhist system prohibited use of all
animals altogether. This is one extreme, and
its opposite is the excess which was
prevalent among uncivilized people, in
Africa and elsewhere, who had no hesitation
in eating any meat, even the flesh of man.
The Arabs used to eat the meat of
quadrupeds and other animals, even rats and
lizards. They ate all types of dead
cattle, which they killed by slaughtering,
or which died by itself, was strangled or
beaten to death. They ate what died as a
result of fall, or by being gored by another
animal, or which was killed by beasts of
prey. They ridiculed the Muslims, saying,
Why is it that you eat what you kill
yourselves and do not eat what has been
killed by Allah. Many people offer similar
objections even today. Some people say, What
is the difference between one flesh and the
other, when the human body does not get any
harm from, especially if it is hygienically
prepared, because the digestive system does
not differentiate between this and that?
The Arabs also used to eat blood. They
filled the intestine with blood, roasted it
and offered it to the guests. During famine
days, they used to wound their camels with
arrows and drank the blood, which came
gushing out. Even today, eating of blood is
common among many non- Muslims communities.
The
Chinese Buddhists are more liberal than
the ancient Arabs are. Reportedly,
they eat all types of animals including
dogs and cats, even the worms, seashells
and all types of insects.
Islam has chartered a middle course,
and has allowed the meats, which are
agreeable to the normal human nature. It
has selected in quadrupeds the cattle
like sheep, goats, cows and camels (also
horse and donkey, although with
dislike); among the birds, it disallowed
the birds of prey and allowed those
other birds which have craw and those
which flap their wings more often and do
not have talon. In marine animals, it
has allowed some categories of fish,
details of which may be found in books
of Islamic Laws.
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Even while
allowing the above-mentioned animals, it has
prohibited its blood and that which has died
of itself and on which the name of Allah has
not been invoked. The purpose behind these
rules is to revitalize the natural canon,
inasmuch as the man naturally likes to eat
meat. Together with it, Islam respects the
correct thinking and normal nature as these
too are repulsed from eating those things,
which may prove harmful to human being, or
which the human nature thinks odious and
unclean.
He also remarks:
The
prohibition of strangling an animal or
beating it to death comes under this
category of rules. In addition, it has
forbidden slaughtering an animal with
another one looking at it. At the time of
slaughtering, many rules based on mercy have
been laid down, as for examples, the animal
should be given water before slaughtering,
and so on, details of which can be seen in
books of jurisprudence.
When all is said and written, the fact
remains that Islam is a religion of reason,
not of sentiments. It does not give
precedence to the dictates of sentiments
over the rules, which are meant to bring
reform in the human society. It accepts only
that sentiment which is accepted by the
reason. So in the end, that too becomes the
dictate of reason.
As for the talk of divine Mercy and His
being the most Merciful of all, do they
think that Allah is tenderhearted being? On
the other hand, that his senses are
influenced and He feels pity on some things?
Obviously, these are material and physical
characteristics and Allah is far above such
things. The Divine Mercy means that Allah
bestows good on someone who deserves it as
much as he deserves it. That is why
sometimes what we think is punishment turns
out to be the Mercy from Him, and vice
versa. Consequently, according to the
reason, it is not good to neglect or discard
a beneficial action by listening to what is
suggested by our false mercy. Nor is it
allowed to be negligent in legislating the
Islamic Laws, keeping in view the realities
of the creation.
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Meat of Animals
Slaughtered by Muslims is Electrically Balanced
and Stable - A Note on Battery-Farmed Meats and
Leather Belts
Dr. Hazim remarks further that the
Electro-Encephalographic (EEG) recordings of the
animals (after being slaughtered) dropped to a
zero level, and the heart was still pounding,
the body convulsing vigorously (a reflex
action), and driving maximum blood out from the
body. This procedure greatly results in hygienic
and electrically balanced (with steady energy
fields) meat for the consumer.
Schwartz and Russek (1999) make a stern
comment in their book The Living Energy
Universe on ingesting just any meat, in
particular that meat from animals that are often
raised (and slaughtered) under stressful and
abusive circumstances and we ingest their cells
(with unfavorable info-energy) into our bodies.
Their molecules then replace some of our
molecules, and we end up living with the
info-energy of the animal's pain and suffering.
One's health can thus be compromised.
Concerning battery cages in the US and
several countries in the West, it has been
argued that there may be no experience of
life more fraught with stress and pain than that
of the battery-caged animal. These animals do
not live on a farm, but inside a gigantic metal
factory. Such facilities hold literally millions
of animals that are confined in row after row of
tiny wire battery cages. These cages are too
small to allow them to stand in a normal upright
position, much less stretch, unfold their limbs,
or exercise. Throughout the course of her short
life, the battery-caged animal will be forced to
endure beak mutilations, overcrowding, filth,
disease, and periodic starvation.
On July 24th 2003 and on behalf of People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Sir
Paul McCartney ran a full-page ad, featuring an
open letter to one fast-food restaurant (not
named) CEO, in today's Louisville
Courier-Journal, the hometown paper of this
fast-food restaurant's corporate offices. In the
ad, McCartney challenged the CEO to improve
living and dying conditions for the 750 million
chickens that are raised every year in
overcrowded, feces-filled sheds on factory farms
and killed in frightening ways for these
restaurants.
Among the improvements that McCartney and PETA
wanted the restaurants to implement were the
following - replacing crude and ineffective
electric stunning and throat-slitting with
painless gas killing; phasing out the forced
rapid growth of chickens, which causes their leg
bones to become crippled; and implementing
gentler, automated chicken-catching, which would
reduce the high incidence of bruising and broken
wings and legs, and much of the terror
associated with manual catching by low-paid
catchers, who often roughly sling the birds into
wooden crates. |
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In brief, the
cages are frightening, smelling of death and
disease. Animals sit on vast stretches of land,
countless rows of giant metal structures
protruding into the sky. From a distance, you
can get an eerie sense of the overwhelming
number of animals who live day after day, minute
after minute, inside the long windowless sheds.
From rows of cages stacked floor to ceiling, the
animals have been observed to cry out. The air
is dense with the screams of thousands of
animals that are suffering extreme physical and
psychological pain.
Texas County pig farm worker in the US pleaded
to three counts of felony cruelty to animals
stemming from a PETA undercover investigation.
The videotape showing the manager of this
particular farm (not named) owned pig farm,
mercilessly bludgeoning pigs with iron gate rods
in three separate incidents. This is the first
time in U.S. history that a farmer has pleaded
to felony cruelty to animals for injuring and
killing animals raised for food. On May 14th
2001, PETA submitted the video to Texas County
District Attorney Donald E. Wood, whose office
filed charges against the manager on August 31.
Employees at this farm, North America's third
largest pork producer, were also caught on video
routinely throwing, beating, kicking, slamming
against concrete floors, and bludgeoning animals
with metal gate rods and hammers. Other pigs
were left to die slow and agonizing deaths with
severe injuries, illness, and lameness, often
unable to reach food or water, without even a
trace of veterinary care despite the fact that
Peņa was fully aware of their conditions.
In 1999, in North Carolina, the first-ever
felony indictments for cruelty to animals on a
factory farm in the U.S. were issued against 3
workers after an investigation into a pig
breeding facility. In that case, all three
workers were convicted for their parts in the
beating and bludgeoning of pigs, including the
skinning of a sow, which was still fully
conscious.
On September 5th 2001, PETA announced that it
will continue its campaign moratorium against
one of the largest chain fast food restaurants
in the world, but will pressure the corporation
to adopt less abusive slaughter standards for
chickens and to internationalize its animal
welfare standards. In 1997, this worldwide chain
of restaurant was found culpably responsible for
cruelty to animals in a court of law.
Chickens raised for this fast-food restaurant
(not named) are crammed into crowded, filthy
warehouses with less space per bird than a
standard sheet of paper. This overcrowding
causes disease, suffocation, and heart attacks.
Some breeding pigs raised for this restaurant
live their entire lives in cement stalls, unable
to turn around, lie in a comfortable position,
or nuzzle their babies. U.S. federal standards
for slaughter say that all animals should be
fully stunned before their throats are slit, but
this restaurant considers it acceptable if
slaughterhouses inadequately stun 1 in 20
animals, and refuses to ask their suppliers to
hire extra stunners.
Most people who eat meat don't think too deeply
about all the processes involved in converting a
living animal to meat on their plate. For modern
animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows
about what's happening before the meat hits the
plate, the better. If true, is this an ethical
situation? Should the animal agriculture be
reluctant to let people know what really goes
on, because we're not really proud of it .? (Cheeke,
1999) |
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In a press release
dated May 20th 2003, US Congressman Jim Moran
(VA) says:
The vast
majority of meat, milk, and eggs in America
come from factory farms, which hardly
resembles bucolic family farms many
Americans envision their food comes from.
Instead, they are part of agribusiness,
where animals are mass-produced for the
slaughterhouse. And, in the agribusiness,
financial profitability takes priority over
treating animals humanely.
Unfortunately, the
Food Marketing Institute's (FMI) Animal Welfare
Program guidelines do not require that a sow
(mother pig) have enough room to walk or turn
around, but rather that she actually has enough
room to fit in the cage without being forced
against the bars (FMI-NCRR Animal Welfare
Program - January 2003 Report).
Up to six egg-laying hens have been observed to
live in a battery cage with a wire floor area of
1.7 square feet. These conditions lead to
lameness, bone brittleness, osteoporosis, and
muscle weakness (Rollin, 1995). During
transport, all farmed animals lose at least 3%
of their weight, most in the first hour, from
urination and defecation as a result of stress.
These animals must stand in their excrement and
they are exposed to extreme weather conditions
in the open trucks, sometimes freezing to the
trailer (USDA, 1997).
Competition to produce inexpensive meat, eggs,
and dairy products has led animal agribusiness
to treat animals as objects and commodities. The
worldwide trend is to replace family farms with
factory farms; warehouses where animals are kept
in crowded pens or restrictive stalls. Large
numbers of beef cattle, dairy cows, pigs,
chickens, and turkeys are raised under such
conditions.
Because of the
respect, honor and reverence Muslims give to
animals and individual animal slaughter (more on
this under the section - Islam's Stand on
Vegetarianism), scientists have shown beyond
doubt that Muslim-slaughtered (Halal) meat is
the most electrically balanced meat, and
therefore most hygienic and healthy. Heistand
and Coleman (1999) write in their book
Electrical Nutrition that animals display
extreme fear in the slaughterhouse environment
employed by western societies. Commercially
produced chickens are traumatized and react with
extreme fear when slaughtered, because of their
unbelievably cramped and over-crowded cages. All
this creates a highly unstable network of energy
within the animal and thus affecting its meat.
In their words:
The most
disharmonic food by far, from an electrical
understanding, would be battery farmed
chicken.
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Imam Ali (AS)
has said, and reported in al-Kafi - Volume
6, Page 229:
Do not
slaughter a sheep in the presence of another
sheep and a camel in the presence of another
camel while they are looking at the animals
being slaughtered.
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Interestingly,
non-Muslim researchers, Heistand and Coleman
(1999) continue:
All
slaughtering undertaken with honor and as a
part of a ceremonial sacrifice, as in HALAL
killing as practiced in the Middle East, and
other ceremonies practiced by many cultures
around the world, balances any of the
emotional traumatic frequencies that one
would be concerned about.
It is, therefore,
apparent that the non-Halal meat in
supermarkets, non-Muslim butchery centers, and
meat in fast-food restaurants contains
disharmonic, highly unstable and weak fields of
energy, together with painful and traumatic
info-energy, thereby affecting the meat and
making it unhealthy for consumers. To consume
such meat would not only mean disobeying Allah (SWT),
the electrically unstable meat would introduce a
host of electrical, energy and info-energy
malfunctions into one's system as he or she
consumes the meat, making that individual
vulnerable, and prone to health and mental
challenges.
Besides the disturbance to the electrical
network of the meat, the fear and panic caused
to the animal slaughtered in battery-farms would
further cause the animal to produce
stress-related chemicals into their system that
would alter the meat's chemical composition as
well. Heistand and Coleman (1999) report that
such kinds of unstable meat, when consumed on a
long-term basis may lead to cancer, and other
degenerative diseases. The psycho-physiological
effects of long-term stress in humans have been
documented in ample studies. The hormones and
chemicals released during stress do a lot of
damage to the tissues rendering them unfit for
human consumption (Kamoonpuri, 1998).
The effects of unfavorable and unsteady energy
contrived within the animal during slaughter are
therefore significant and the studies worth
mentioning. Weston (1998) writes that Dr.
Puharich and seven other U.S. Navy physicians
discovered that when they radiated mice with a
lower frequency, unstable 5 Hz frequencies,
cancer was induced within 48 hours. When the
mice were radiated with the higher frequency,
free flowing, balanced healer energy frequency
of 8 Hz the mice's tumors were healed within 48
hours.
Ostrander and Schroeder (1970) quote Dr. Errera,
Councilor of nuclear matters to the Belgian
government, that traditional healers have been
recorded in reliable experiments to be able to
induce free flowing and harmonious energy from
their hands to animal flesh. This act has been
observed to purify the meat with higher and more
balanced/coherent vibrations of energy, so much
that it does not deteriorate for a month, even
though the meat was never refrigerated. |
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Moreover,
Kamoonpuri (1998) lists down the following that
also has to take place during any kind of
Islamic slaughter:
The knife must
not be sharpened in front of the animal.
The animals
should not be slaughtered in front of each
other.
The animals
should be given water to drink before
slaughtering.
The animal
should be laid on its sides, soothed and
should be stroked gently on its back.
Having the animal
slaughtered on its right side with its left side
exposed, the benefits are worth mentioning.
According to Kamoonpuri (1998), this advice by
the Prophet is perfect and a scientific fact.
When the left side of the neck is incised, the
carotid arteries are cut first thereby stopping
oxygenated blood from reaching the brain. The
animal thus becomes unconscious because of
oxygen depletion. This procedure results in the
same two actions mentioned earlier - convulsions
based on the muscular contractions that drives
out all the remaining blood, and no pain is
experienced.
Islam has strictly prohibited tampering with the
lives of animals and inflicting torture upon
them just for the sake of fun. Setting animals
against each other, such as cocks, oxen, or
sheep, for the sake of fun or for any other
reason, is completely forbidden in Islam. Using
an animal as a target for shooting practice with
a gun or bow is forbidden. The Prophet cursed
one who kills a living creature as a mere sport.
The Prophet prohibited the setting of animals so
as to fight one another. The birds, which are
flying beauties, are not to be harmed for the
sake of fun, since the Prophet said:
A sparrow that
was killed just for fun would, on the Day of
Judgment, complain (to God) against the
person who did so, just for fun and not for
any material gain.
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The Prophet
admonished us to avoid the seven abominations
(sins), and for one of the sins he recited the
following verse of the Qur'an, (Kill not a
living creature, which God has made sacrosanct,
except for a justifiable reason). That person
will be answerable to God if he kills a sparrow
or anything smaller without a justifiable
reason. When asked what would be a justifiable
reason, he (the Prophet) replied, to slaughter
it for food-not to kill and discard it. The
Prophet prohibited stoning animals even with
pebbles - Even if it does not kill or bleed, it
may harm their eyes and teeth.
Since animals are communities, just as humankind
is, they, too, deserve mercy and affection. The
Prophet said, Our Most Merciful God showers His
mercy on those who are themselves merciful. One
who has been endowed with a gentle nature has
received a portion of the goodness of this world
and the next. If you want to be loved by your
Creator, love His creatures. God says, If you
are anxious to receive kindness from Me, offer
kindness to My creatures.
When the Prophet (S) was asked to define
Islam, he said to believe in Allah and be kind
to the whole of creation. |
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Leather Belts
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
reports that every year, the $14.5 million
global leather industry tans millions of animal
skins, many animals from whom these skins are
taken suffer all the horrors of factory farming,
including extreme crowding and confinement,
deprivation, anaesthetized castration, branding,
tail docking, dehorning, and cruel treatment
during transport and slaughter.
Humaneness is not a priority of those who poach
and hunt animals to obtain their skin or those
who transform skin into leather. Alligators on
farms may be beaten to death with hammers and
axes, sometimes-remaining conscious and in agony
for up to two hours after being skinned (Reid,
1997).
Crocodiles are often caught with huge hooks and
wires and reeled in, when they weaken from blood
loss. Poachers sometimes kill one species of
animal to use as bait to capture another. Snakes
and lizards may be skinned alive because of the
belief that live flaying imparts suppleness to
the finished leather.
Kid goats may be boiled alive to make kid gloves
and the skins of unborn calves and lambs, some
purposely aborted, others from slaughtered
pregnant cows and ewes, are considered
especially luxurious. Shearling, contrary to
what many consumers think, is not sheared wool.
The term refers to the sheep. A Shearling is a
yearling sheep, which has been shorn once. A
Shearling garment is made from a sheep or lamb
shorn shortly before slaughter. The skin is
tanned with the wool still on it.
For the above reasons and reasons mentioned
below, Muslims are prohibited from wearing
leather belts during prayer - leather from an
animal, which was slaughtered in a non-Muslim
manner. The weaker fields of energy and tainted
info-energy remain in the memory and energy
surrounding the belt. These memories of torture
and pain most certainly have the ability to
interfere with the energy fields related to
one's attention in prayer. This concept is
explored in details in the section on Prayer.
Kindness to Animals The Islamic worldview and
guidelines give sufficient basis for a humane
treatment of animals. One major objective of
Islam is that it seeks to make the human being
kind hearted towards fellow creatures. Kindness
is an important ingredient of the human
conscience. God Himself is compassionate and
kind and wants man, His vicegerent on earth, to
be kindhearted towards all living creatures.
The animal world in Qur'an has its own rights,
just like that of the human world. Animals have
similar characteristics, peculiarities,
temperaments, and consciousness of their own.
They have the ability to experience what we all
consider to be morally relevant states of
consciousness such as pain, distress, fear,
anxiety, loneliness, boredom, joy, and pleasure.
Many animal species other than mammals share
abilities we thought made humankind singular,
such as communications, tool using and tool
making, love and nurturing a partner and family.
Altruism has been observed in most species. This
modern ethological finding is reflected in the
Qur'anic concept of animals as a community just
as humanity is, (there is no creature on earth,
or a bird, which flies on wings, but they are
communities like you, al-Qur'an - Chapter 6,
Verse 38). This verse elegantly speaks also of
the sanctity of life.
The ancient nation of Thamud was warned that
even a thirsty camel has its own drinking right.
The story of Prophet Salih (AS) and the people
of Thamud illustrate the moral that denying
animals their basic right to pasture and spring
for food and water is a heinous sin in divine
vision. The Thamud had arrogated all rights of
water and pasture to themselves. On Prophet
Salih's intervention, the due of the poor and
their cattle was given to each in turn. As a
test case, a she-camel was selected, which,
according to the agreement, would enjoy free
access to the spring and the pasture. However,
the privileged people killed the she-camel,
which caused their destruction by an earthquake.
One of the messages in the story is that all
animals have their rights in the resources of
nature and that man can only deny them at his
own peril. In the anecdotes of Prophet Nuh (AS)
and his ark, the Prophet was directed to load
(in the ark) from everything a pair, male and
female. This is indicative of the divine scheme
of life on earth, which for balance requires
preservation of all types of animals. Qur'an
lays down the duty of being good towards, and
doing good to, the animals. God loves those who
are kind and enjoin kindness.
People should not kill a living creature,
which God has made sacrosanct, except for a
justifiable reason. Even the faithful are
specifically enjoined not to kill game while in
the sacred precincts in pilgrim's garb.
Reflecting the prominence of animals in the
divine scheme of things, many chapters in
al-Qur'an are named after animals in the Qur'an
- the Cow, the Cattle, the Bee, the Ant, the
Spider, and the Elephant. Thus, we see that
Islam sanctifies life in all its aspects,
omitting nothing from its embrace. |
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As Imam Ali
(AS) says that, he would not steal a morsel of
food from the mouth of ant even if the entire
heavens and the earth were handed to him. His
son Imam al-Husain (AS) displayed a similar
behavior in the event of Karbala (just before
his martyrdom) by giving water to his horse
first.
Allamah Taba Tabai (AR) writes that Husain
bin Saeed has also narrated the following
tradition from the same Imam. In the same book
Ja'far bin Muhammad narrates from his father,
the Holy Messenger had ordered us to desist from
physically branding animals or hitting them on
their faces because these animals too chant
their praises of the Lord. We shall mention the
praises of each animal later.
The same book records Ishaq bin Ammar bin Abi
Abdullah quoting from Imam Sadiq:
Every animal
on land and in sea falls prey because it has
been negligent in praising the Lord.
Kulayni has quoted
this tradition from Muhammad bin Muslim and he
in turn from Imam Sadiq that the Messenger said:
No one should
scar or brand the faces of the animals.
Allamah Taba Tabai
(AR) writes:
This question
gives precedence to the feelings over
realities. Legislation follows the real good
of humanity and not the emotional feelings.
We may expound it as follows, Look minutely
all the things, which you find around
yourselves, you will see that all of them in
their creation and follow the law of
continuous change. All things without
exception do change to other things; and
those other things in their turn do change
into these things - directly or indirectly.
Nothing comes into being unless another
thing loses existence in the process.
Nothing continues living on this earth
without something else going out of
existence. This material world is the world
of change and exchange; or you may say, the
world of the eater and the eaten. The
earthly compounds eat the earth itself by
absorbing its chemicals to themselves
changing them to their own images; then
after sometime, the earth again eats and
destroys them. Again, the vegetable world
gets its nourishment from the earth and
absorbs the air, then later the earth eats
it and breaks it down to its original
ingredients, the first elements; and this
cycle continues.
How comes the animal world which gets its
nourishment from vegetables, water and air.
Some animals feed themselves on other
animals, like the wild beasts, which eat the
meat of their preys; and likewise predatory
birds eat the pigeons and sparrows. The
digestive systems of these carnivorous
animals and birds do not accept any other
food. The small birds in their turn feed on
grain, flies, fleas, insects and mosquitoes,
while the mosquitoes feed on blood of man
and other animals. Then, finally, the earth
devours them all.
Clearly, the system of creation, which has
overall control on all the creatures, has
ordained that man should get nourishment
from meats, etc., then it has guided the
previous parts of existence towards it.
It is the system, which has created in human
beings the ability to get sustenance from
both animals and vegetables. He has in the
front of his alimentary system the teeth,
some of which are made to cut, the others to
break, some to tear and others to grind.
They are called canines, molars, premolars
and incisors. Man is not like goat or cow,
which cannot cut or tear apart, nor is he
like the beasts of prey, which cannot grind
or incise.
Islam is a natural religion. Its only aim
is to revive the tracks of nature, which the
human ignorance has obliterated. It is bound
to declare lawful what the creation guides
to and the nature decrees. Islamic
Legislation revives this natural
commandment; and in the same way, it
restores other arrangements, which the
Creator has ingrained in our nature. We have
already mentioned that it confirms the
decree of reason that one should abstain
from such meats, which are harmful
physically or spiritually, and it
strengthens the inner feelings by
prohibiting what the normal human nature
dislikes or feels aversion. These two
principles ultimately are based on the
Divine management of the creation, and Islam
has given credence to them. It has
prohibited that, which harms the growth of
the body and has forbidden that, which is
injurious to the well being of human
society. For example, that which has been
slaughtered in the name of other than Allah
or that which has been obtained through
gambling and dividing with arrows and so on;
and it has prohibited those repulsive things
which the nature abhors.
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Meat of Pig is
Forbidden in Islam
Muhammad ibn
Abdillah narrates from one of his companions
that he said - I said to Abu Abdillah (AS), May
I be made your ransom! Why did Allah forbid the
dead animal, blood and flesh of swine?
He said:
As for the
flesh of swine, verily Allah had transformed
some groups in various forms, resembling
swine, monkey, bear and other such animals.
Then He prohibited (His servants) to eat the
animals of similar shapes in order that they
should not be polluted by it and should not
take the Divine punishment lightly.
In Islam, Pig's
meat is forbidden, and the reason why this rule
was prescribed upon Muslims is that Pigs are
mainly scavengers. However you struggle to
maintain their food intake, they will return to
what they are normally used to and is a normal
way of living and eating to their standards. Pig
is an animal, which lives on offal and pigsty.
Abstention from eating pork is a measure to
safeguard health. Of all the domestic animals,
Pig is the most avaricious, eating anything
including human excreta. It is the cradle of
harmful germs and parasites. Its meat is a
carrier of diseases to man, thus making it unfit
for human consumption. Such prohibition is also
found in the Bible:
The Pig also,
because it is a splitter of the hoof but
there is no cud. It is unclean for you. None
of their flesh must you eat and carcass you
must not touch. Deuteronomy 14:8 (Bible)
The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible
clearly states that:
The swine is
ceremonially unclean animal ... It is dirty,
does not refuse to eat offal or carrion, and
the use of its flesh for food in hot
countries is supposed to produce skin
diseases. It was not raised by Arabs, and
was regarded as unclean by Phoenicians,
Ethiopians, and Egyptians ... To the Jews,
swine's flesh is abominable, and the Pig was
the emblem of filth and coarseness...
Athar (1986) asked
farmers in Fisher, Indiana who breed Swine, and
their comments:
Swine is
cheaper to breed, since it does not require
pasture, it can live on manure and other
such items including dead meat. In fact, it
can even eat its own feces. Their sexual
habits are also different from other animals
like cow, sheep and goat. Swine have very
little shame i.e. engage in sex acts
anytime, anywhere.
The female hog is very aggressive in sexual
activities, and when she is in heat she does
not care about anything (i.e. food or
privacy) until she has the sex. They i.e.
swine, also lick the genitals of their
partners after sex like dogs, but not other
mammals like cow, sheep or goat.
It is apparent
that an animal who lives such a life and spends
most of his time scavenging food particles,
which have astonishing unstable and low charge
networks of energy, making the energy fields
surrounding the body and soul of that animal
highly unstable and the meat, therefore
unhealthy. The unfavorable and corrupt
info-energy within Pigs can hardly be
questioned.
It is apparent that an animal who lives such a
life and spends most of his time scavenging food
particles, which have astonishing unstable and
low charge networks of energy, making the energy
fields surrounding the body and soul of that
animal highly unstable and the meat, therefore
unhealthy. The unfavorable and corrupt
info-energy within Pigs can hardly be
questioned.
Whosoever eats
the meat of Pig shall have no shame.
And, because Pigs
love watching their partners have sexual
relations with other male Pigs, this makes its
meat even more dangerous. This is why we see
this practice in Western continents. Athar
(1986) writes that consuming dead meat, for
example, can and does also lead to that
individual following after the instincts of that
animal. This aspect is explained further in
details in the section on Transplants.
In folkloric terms, eating the meat of the Pig
is said to contribute to lack of morality and
shame, plus greed for wealth, laziness,
indulgence, dirtiness and gluttony. We insult a
person by calling him or her a Pig when they
demonstrate these characteristics. This is much
apparent in societies where Pig's meat is
consumed in large quantities.
Many Far Eastern traditions also discourage the
eating of pork. The 3,000-yearold Confucian Book
of Rites says that a person does not eat the
flesh of Pigs and Dogs. Although many Chinese
are avid eaters of pork today, physicians of
ancient China recognized eating pork as the root
of many human ailments. Kamoonpuri (1998) quotes
Nanji and a French scientist who found a
significant correlation between eating pork and
the incidence of a liver disease, Cirrhosis. An
even higher incidence was revealed when alcohol
consumption was added. Shepard (1952) found a
similar correlation.
The argument that certain farms will raise Pigs
in a very clean and unpolluted manner is weak,
since one can hardly proclaim to watch the
animal all the time when it is feeding or having
sex. Further, according to the systemic memory
process, the fields of energy within Pigs (with
stored previous memories and experiences) may
contain significant adulterated memories and
will have already affected the meat in some way.
This may also apply to other animals, but more
to Pigs.
Such foods can and do affect people and make
them vulnerable. It is reported that in the
event of the battle in Karbala, al-Husain (AS)
informed the troops of Ibn Sa'ad who were his
enemies and denied the Truth of Islam from the
grandson of the Prophet (S) that a lot of their
behaviors and decisions against Islam were a
result of eating non-Halal foods.
al-Husain (AS) addressed the troops of Yazid as
follows:
Your bellies
are filled with the unlawful. Now you will
not accept the truth. Why don't you deal
with justice? Why don't you listen to me?
Clearly, the
Infallible complained in general about the
people's un-Islamic eating behaviors and the
effect on one's mind, body and soul. Apparently,
to abstain from consuming such products is also
one of the many rules to attain spiritual
perfection (Taba Tabai, 1991).
A similar incident was observed when Muhammad
Hanafiyya was in the battle of Siffin fighting
for Islam and refused to proceed further because
of too many forthcoming arrows. Ali (AS) patted
him on his shoulder and told him that such a
nervous behavior was a result of his mother's
milk when he was a baby and being breastfed,
(The mother of Hanafiyya was not Fatima al-Zahra
(AS).
Certain other animals are also considered as
Forbidden Foods in Islam. These include beasts
of prey with canine teeth - Muslims cannot eat
the primates (monkeys, man, etc) and the canidae
(dog, wolf, fox, etc), as well as the felidae
(cat, lion, tiger, etc).
Ayatullah Sayyid Dastghaib al-Shirazi has the
following to say on the effects of forbidden
foods and food prepared by a non-Muslim:
As long as
even one morsel of haram (unlawful) food is
in the body of a person, he is himself like
the Satan. Beating drums and seeking
protection from Satan is his hypocrisy. As
long as he is not able to shake away the
influence of Satan from his person, all his
prayers are mere pretences.
About Rizq-e-Halal (legitimate food), there
are several traditions of Ahlul-Bayt (AS).
Rizq-e- Halal is like a seed on which the
quality of the plant will depend. Care must
be exercised and good seed to ensure the
health and sturdiness of the tree.
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Allah says in
the Holy Qur'an:
O people, eat pure and halal food
and don't tread the footprints of Satan.
When one has doubt about the food being
halal, he should rather abstain from eating
it. Avoid using haram food and clothes. The
use of these will have such deleterious
effect on the person that he becomes the
victim of fears and doubts.
The foods we consume take us to darkness.
There is no light in them that can give
nourishment to our spirits. Our tongues too
are influenced by these foods that we utter
falsehoods and abusive language. We indulge
in misguiding games and play. Backbiting has
become our habit. All our limbs and organs
have been exposed to the effects of haram
and unsavory (makruh) foods. The body has
therefore become insensitive to the instinct
of remembrance of Allah. The limbs and
organs have thus turned into the playthings
of Satan.
One type of haram food is najis (impure)
food. If impure food goes down the throat,
Satan will transmit his effect throughout
the body.
Even babes in arms should not be fed with
najis food. One should not think that a
child is innocent and free from the
incidence of the rules of Islamic Law.
Remember, the adults are bound with the
requirements of the Islamic Law and it is
their duty to take care to nourish their
children with pure food. When a child is
brought up on najis food, he will develop
negative and un-Islamic tendencies as he
grows up. It is to be borne in minds that
only animals can take Najis food.
The occasion when one is required to abstain
even from Halal food is when he is fully
satiated and can eat no more at that moment.
Over-eating is a taboo and a satanic trait.
Sayyid Tawus has recommended application of
this verse to all foods, although the verse
pertains only to animal foods. Sayyid Tawus
says, All the edibles that are prepared
without taking the name of Allah before
commencing the preparation, I don't partake!
How can a believer eat the bread that has
been cooked by the baker without taking the
name of Allah?
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Qur'an:
Verily those who guard (themselves against evil)
when an evil thought from the Satan afflicts
them, they become mindful (of God and are
awakened) then lo! They see (aright).
The people who are in the process of escaping
from sinful acts and Satan tries to overwhelm
them, they instantaneously busy themselves in
the remembrance of Allah. With the felicity of
this act, the curtains of thoughtlessness are
raised from their eyes and they comprehend the
evil schemes of Satan very clearly. Thus, they
are able to save themselves from the evil bait
of Satan.
We have mentioned that piety is a very important
tool concerning our food habits. Our food, or
nutrition, is like the seed of plants. The type
of food one takes nourishes good or satanic
tendencies in a person. If the seed is satanic,
then the body acquires evil tendencies. If a
haram morsel goes down the throat, then the
control over the body will come into the hands
of Satan. Till the time that morsel remains in
the body, Satan too will occupy it. |
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Dead Animal's Meat is Forbidden
in Islam
Muhammad ibn Abdillah narrates from one of his
companions that he said - I said to Abu Abdillah
(AS) - May I be made your ransom! Why did Allah
forbid the dead animal, blood and flesh of
swine?
He said:
As for the
dead body, nobody goes near it or eats it
but his body becomes weak and thin, and his
strength is lost and his generation is
discontinued; and one who (habitually) eats
dead body will not die but unexpectedly.
As for blood, it creates burning thirst and
hardheartedness, mercilessness and
unkindness; one cannot be sure that he would
not kill his child or parents; he cannot be
trusted about his friends or companions.
Athar (1986),
Clinical Associate Professor of Internal
Medicine and Endocrinology at Indiana University
School of Medicine, Indianapolis comments on the
effects of ingesting dead meat:
All hormones
and antibodies are retained in the blood,
and all infected organisms including virus
flourish in the blood media, therefore
ingestion of such will be dangerous
medically. It may also induce animal
instincts as seen in carnivorous animals
like dogs, cats, and lions.
The above view is
similar to Schwartz and Russek (1999) that the
ingested meat with such traumatic memory can
infiltrate the human cells and cause an effect
mentally and in ones behavior. As explained in
later sections, Muslims are also advised not to
imitate the clothing and design of unbelievers
as a change of heart may be apparent in Muslims. |
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For the
above-mentioned reasons, the meat of a dead
animal is also forbidden in Islam. Moreover,
the meat does not meet the requirements of a
balanced electrical matrix. Once an animal dies
on its own, the body stops producing the
life-preserving hormones and enzymes thereby
lowering the charge of the electrical matrix of
its meat, altering the chemical composition, and
making the meat unhealthy and toxic. In a few
hours or so, the animal starts decomposing,
radiating unstable energy and thus the meat
becomes even more harmful to consumers. The
network of info energy within such an animal is
also less desirable.
Further, eating such kinds of meat is forbidden
because we would be introducing in our system
weaker fields of energy that have the strong
ability to interfere with our emotions, thoughts
processes, and our health. However, that animal,
which is slaughtered in the Islamic manner,
meets the requirements of electrically balanced
and healthy meat since the meat is preserved
from the blood, as almost all of it gushes out
during the slaughter. Also, the life-preserving
hormones and chemicals are at work until the
time of slaughter. There is no pain or torture,
so the memory within the network of info-energy
of the animal is not disturbed. In brief, the
Islamic method of slaughtering an animal causes
the energy and information contained within the
energy surrounding that animal remain stable
throughout the pre and post-slaughter period.
Food Prepared by an Atheist Islam is such a
perfect way of life that Allah has even
prohibited sacrificing animals on idol stones
and images, as the meat of the animal becomes
spiritually unclean.
Forbidden to
you is that which dies of itself, and blood,
and flesh of swine. And that on which any
other name than that of Allah has been
invoked. And the strangled (animal) and that
beaten to death, and that killed by a fall
and that killed by being smitten with the
horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten,
except what you slaughter, and what is
sacrificed on stones set up (for idols),
and that you divide by the arrows, that is a
transgression. This day have those who
disbelieve despaired of your religion, so
fear them not, and fear Me.
This day have I perfected for you your
religion and completed My favor on you and
chosen for you Islam as a religion; but
whoever is compelled by hunger, not
inclining willfully to sin, then surely
Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
(al-Qur'an-Chapter 5, Verse 3)
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Allamah Taba Tabai
(AR) says:
The verse
prohibits eating the flesh of an animal
slaughtered on stone. In this way, it
prohibits of the customs of the Days of
Ignorance. They had set up around the Ka'bah
stones, which they venerated and over which
they offered sacrifices. It was a custom of
idolatry.
An advice from the
Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (S) to Abu Dhar (AR):
O Abu Dhar! Do
not accompany but a believer, and let no one
eat your food but a pious person, and don't
eat the food of the evildoers.
Several scholars
in Islam have passed a ruling to Muslims to
avoid eating food prepared by non-Muslims or by
Atheists, and some of them have forbidden this
completely, in particular when the non-Muslim
has made contact with the food or ingredients
for that matter, with wet hands. Even though the
ingredients may not be involved, the contact the
Atheist may have with the food while preparing
the meal is what is in question.
It is very likely that Atheists do not follow
the prescribed rulings in Islam and therefore
drink alcohol, commit adultery, not wash
themselves after going through natural episodes,
and so forth. The nature of the vibration in
their energy is lowered and the info-energy
surrounding these people is corrupt. Even though
Muslims can have such adulterated info-energy
within their energy systems (by following
un-Islamic behaviors), the possibility is
greater in non-Muslims who do not have guided
principles in order to act accordingly.
This low-charged energy in a person may thus
interfere with the energy of the food causing a
reaction. The quality of the vibration (from the
energy) in food is vital and important in
understanding how the food will react on the
person ingesting the food (Chopra, 1991).
According to Chopra, the one who prepares a meal
involves him at the energy level with the
ingredients, and the effects are noticeable. He
writes that there is a big difference when a
sick child is presented with soup made by his
mother than the soup from a can. There is also a
difference in the quality of food prepared by an
angry and upset individual than a loving and
caring person.
In any case, fields of energy in an atheist or
an unbeliever will have retained emotional and
adulterated memory episodes that may interfere
in the network of energy fields of the food
being prepared. Just as ingesting non-Halal meat
or Pig's meat may be dangerous to one's health,
so is the case with food prepared by non-
Muslims. |
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Allamah Taba
Tabai (AR) writes the following about the lives
of non-Muslims:
Allah has, in
these verses, condemned interest in the most
emphatic words. No other deed has been
condemned in such a harsh tone. The only
exception is befriending the enemies of
religion, which also has been execrated with
equal force. All other major sins have been
condemned emphatically in the Qur'an, but
the level of their condemnation is far below
that used for these two evils.
Not only fornication, liquor and gambling,
but even more grievous sins like murder and
creating mischief in the earth seem milder
than these two - interest and making friends
with the enemies of religion.
And why? The reason is very clear. The
bad effects of the above-mentioned sins
remain mostly confined to individuals, one
or more; further, they impair only some
particular psychological traits of the doer.
But these two evils bring such destruction
in their wake that religion is uprooted and
even its signs are obliterated, the lifeline
of human social order is severed, human
nature is overpowered by their harmful
intoxication, and it loses all its control
over the people's thinking and action.
For these reasons,
non-Muslims, unbelievers and infidels, as well
as unclean Muslim individuals are prohibited
from entering the mosques or taking care of
them, as there is greater possibility to
infiltrate, adulterate and corrupt the pure
network of energy fields within the environment
of the mosque. This is also, why all Saints have
forbidden vile acts of sin and ignorance to be
performed in Churches and Synagogues.
Even Muslims have been prohibited to enter the
mosques and even touch the writings of al-Qur'an
when in the state of Janabat (after having sex
and before taking the prescribed shower), or
women in the state of menstruation. |
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The idol worshipers are not to frequent the
mosques of God, while confessing their
disbelief. These have nullified their works,
and they will abide forever in Hell.
(al-Qur'an- Chapter 9, Verse 17)
Forbidden foods
and everything that is unlawful to ingest does
cause harm to the individual. Islam has thus,
prohibited its followers from consuming and even
to participate in its production. Shaheed
Dastaghaib Shirazi (AR) quotes a tradition from
Safinatul-Bihar, in his book
Greater Sins - Volume 2, in which the noble
Prophet of Allah reported:
Prayers of
the one who eats a single morsel of the
forbidden are not accepted for forty nights,
nor are his invocations accepted for forty
days. Every piece of flesh that grows by
consuming the forbidden is most deserving of
being burnt in hell fire, and even a single
morsel consumed causes some growth in flesh.
Muslims are
Advised Not to Make Friends, Imitate the
Behavior, Clothing and Fashion of Non-Believers
Mr. Ahmed Ali writes in his comments under
Qur'an - Chapter 3, Verse 118:
The believers
are warned not to make friends with the
enemies of Islam, their associates and
relatives. Tolerance is desirable only when
it is known that there is no joining of
hands to launch an offense against the true
faith. It is a wise maxim to preserve the
faith from the contaminating influence of
impiety and infidelity. The disbelievers
will not fall short in corrupting or
vitiating the true belief of the believers,
because they cannot control their hatred.
The believers are bound to believe in all
revealed books, but their enemies do not
believe in the final book of Allah. To make
mischief they pose as believers and plot to
harm the faithful, but in the end their goal
shall never be achieved. The glory of the
true believers shall continue and increase
and shall never perish. Allah knows the
spite that is rankling in the breasts of the
enemies of the true faithful, and has laid
it bare.
And indeed He has revealed to you in
the Book that when you hear Allah's
communications disbelieved in and mocked at,
do not sit with them until they enter into
some other discourse. Surely then you would
be like them. Surely Allah will gather
together the hypocrites and the unbelievers
all in hell. (al-Qur'an - Chapter
4, Verse 140)
Al-Sadiq
(AS) has said, Allah (SWT), the Exalted and Most
High, inspired one of the prophets commanding
him - Tell the believers not to wear the clothes
of My enemies, not to eat like My enemies, and
not to walk like My enemies, so as not to be My
enemies as they are My enemies. This citation
can be found in al- Jawahirus-Saniyah, chapter
on Abu Abdullah Ja'far, son of Muhammad, al-Sadiq,
Tradition 60.
Islam has been kind enough to prohibit their
followers from wearing and observing dresses or
performing actions similar to the infidels.
Undoubtedly, if one were to observe clothing and
fashion similar to the non-believers, this act
can make one oblivious to the teachings of Islam
as he permits the sharing and tarnishing of his
network of info-energy with the energy of the
infidels, thus adulterating one's information
and memory within his or her system of energy.
By observing such fashion seen in non-Muslims,
the effects are visible, clearly show in one's
pride, and decrease in humility that Islam
encourages. For instance, men wearing earrings,
the hair-cut and color, shape of beard and hair
style, the bikini and tight-revealing dresses,
the tie and knots on one's shirt, the openings
in trousers and the relevant shortness, the kind
of fashionable clothes seen in films and movies,
and so forth. In many cases, such clothes are
even forbidden for a Muslim to observe.
Ali (AS), the Prince of Believers, has said that
there are effects in the fashion and tailoring
of clothes. It sometimes happens that those
who wear the clothes cut similar to those of the
foreigners, gets a feeling of ignorant
attachment to them, and thus, he repulses and
abominates the friends of Allah (SWT) and His
Prophet, and loves their enemies.
From Allah, the advise is, therefore,
not to adopt the style and
mannerism of my enemies, lest you may be
considered as one of them. He who appears like a
certain type shall be identified as of that
type. |
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