Exploring Veganism: Why Islam Allows Eating Meat

Salaamun alaykum, dear readers!

Vegans are people who do not consume meat or animal products, either for moral purposes, or for health benefits, or both. Vegetarians only avoid meat, while being comfortable with consuming other animal products.

People who adopt a vegan lifestyle for moral purposes do so because of the following reason: they believe that killing animals is just as wrong as killing human beings because animals can suffer and feel pain, and they have a desire to survive just like humans do. This is known as “moral veganism”.

Veganism and Major World Religions

When examining the compatibility with veganism and world religions, we find that for most of them, it is definitely possible to incorporate a moral veganism framework into them. This means it is not necessary to be an atheist to agree with the idea that killing animals for meat is immoral.

In Sikhism for example, many choose to be vegan because Sikh scripture and teachings require showing compassion and love to all living things, and teaches that the light of God exists in all creatures.

There is a similar teaching (the divine existing in all creatures) is found in Hinduism and Jainism, and both contain the principle known as Ahmisa (avoiding harm to all living beings). Therefore, there is a strong pressure in Hinduism towards veganism as a moral ideal, and it is a requirement in Jainism.

The same applies to Buddhism, which started as an outgrowth of Hindu religion and believes in the same principle of Ahmisa.

In Christianity, the New Testament teaches that foods do not make one impure, but rather, what comes out of a person from inside causes impurity.

• However, a vegan Christian can respond, “I agree that impurity which originates from the heart can spread outwards, therefore polluting a person’s words, actions, and relationships. Killing a creature of God that does not want to be killed may be a manifestation of inner impurity that is having outward effects. That is why moral veganism does not contradict Christianity.”

• A vegan Christian can also cite 1 Corinthians 10:23 to justify believing in veganism as a moral philosophy, which says, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive.” The vegan Christian can say that while eating meat may not be strictly prohibited, killing a creature of God is neither beneficial for the heart, nor constructive for cultivating mercy.

• Lastly, vegan Christians can point towards Genesis in the Old Testament, saying that before the original sin, Adam and Eve only had a plant-based diet in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis, it wasn’t after Noah’s flood that animals were allowed to be eaten, because the land was left barren after the flood. As a result, vegan Christians can argue that because the earth is no longer barren anymore, the permissibility of meat-eating has outlived its purpose, and that going back to a plant-based diet can help bring people closer to the state of innocence and peaceful coexistence that existed before the original sin.

In Judaism, laws regulate meat-eating rather than discourage it. However, a vegan Jew can argue the permissibility of meat-eating started out of necessity, after Noah’s flood left the earth barren.

• Hence, Jews who wish to believe in moral veganism can argue that while it is permissible, meat-eating is framed in scripture as something allowed out of necessity. Originally, before necessity, humans were not allowed to eat meat.

• Much like vegan Christians, they can therefore argue that adopting a plant-based diet and sticking to the original plan for humanity is closer to God than meat-eating.

Islam: Incompatible with Moral Veganism

Out of every world religion, Islam exhibits the most incompatibility with the idea that killing animals for food is an immoral act. The first reason is that the Quran says the meat and other provisions derived from animals are a sign, a lesson, and something to be thankful and appreciative to God for. Something immoral cannot conceivably be a source of gratitude and a means of worshipping the God of the Quran.

Moreover, God (who claims that He never commands or encourages anyone to do anything immoral) in the Quran encourages using animals for the benefit of humanity (food, clothing, and transportation) and says that was one of the reasons why they were created. Thus, a follower of the Quran cannot conceivably believe that using animals for food and other provisions is immoral without indirectly claiming that God Himself violated verse 7:28 and encouraged people to do something immoral.

• [7:28] If they commit an immorality, they say, “We found our parents doing it, and God has commanded us to do it.” Say, “God does not command immorality. Are you saying about God what you do not know?”

• [6:142] Some of the livestock are carriers of the load, and some are a source for bedding materials. Eat from what God has provided for you, and do not follow in the footsteps of the devil. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.

• [16:5-8] And He created the livestock for you. In them is warmth and other benefits, and from them you eat. There is also beauty in them when you bring them in and when you send them out. And they carry your loads to lands you could not have reached except with great difficulty to yourselves. Indeed, your Lord is Compassionate, Merciful. And the horses, the mules, and the donkeys are for you to ride and as an adornment. He also creates what you do not know.

• [16:66] Indeed, there is a lesson for you in the livestock: We provide you with a drink from their bellies. From the midst of excrement and blood comes pure milk, palatable for the drinkers.

• [36:71-73] Have they not seen that, out of what Our hands have made, We created for them livestock, which they then become their owners? And We made them tame for them. Thus, some of them they ride and some of them they eat. And for them therein are other benefits, including drinks, so will they not be appreciative?

The second reason why moral veganism is incompatible with Islam is because claiming something is immoral is tantamount to declaring it to be a prohibition in Islam, because immorality (fahishah in Arabic) is forbidden in the religion. But God in the Quran takes a strong stance against prohibiting something that God Himself made lawful. The prophet Muhammad was reprimanded once in the Quran for it.

• [66:1] O prophet, why do you prohibit what God made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives? But God is Forgiving, Merciful.

• [16:116] Do not say, about what your tongues have attributed of the lies: “This is lawful, and that is unlawful,” to fabricate lies and attribute them to God. Those who fabricate lies about God will not succeed.