On a sunny mid-spring afternoon, I was busily turning the soil with my shovel on the farm. When I heard a chirrup, I looked up to see a little songbird sparrow perched on a tree branch just a hand’s distance away. Unfazed by my presence, it tweeted out a wonderful melody which was echoed by calls from the birds high up on trees.
I watched mesmerized as again and again the pretty little bird puffed up its tiny chest and tweeted its song. As I listened for a few minutes to the songs surrounding me, I felt so blessed.
Allah tells us that all creatures including the birds and animals sing His praise. “Do you not see that all that is in the heavens and the earth, even the birds that go about spreading their wings in flight, praise His glory? Each knows the way of its prayer and praise. Allah knows well what they do.” Surah An-Noor 24:41
After reading such ayats in Quran how can we cause pain to a bird that sings God’s praise or hurt an animal which God has fashioned out of His hands?
In the Quran we learn that all living creatures including insects, birds and animals will come back to God. “There is not a moving living creature on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book, then unto their Lord they all shall be gathered.” Surah Al-Anam 6:38
Even creatures that appear unimportant deserve consideration that they have their own independent communities. In a hadith we are told about a story of an earlier prophet who had destroyed a whole colony of ants. God reprimanded him saying, “Because of one ant’s bite you have burnt a community from amongst the communities which sings My glory.”
Livestock farming does not need to be cruel if we make ourselves aware of the need to be kind. I believe that humane practices should be a mainstream subject in any agro-farming curriculum. A significant body of scientific evidence suggests that yes, fish can feel pain – yet anglers hook a fish and then throw it back maimed. Chickens are confined in space equal to the size of their bodies, cattle are seen just as meat and milk machines. I have seen – when I was a kid – a milkman picking up a half brick and repeatedly throwing it at his cow’s stomach to make her release the milk to her udders. Gandhiji in his book “Experiments with Truth” said that he took a vow not to ever drink milk because he was mortified by the cruelty that cows and buffaloes had to suffer every day.
Many religious leaders perhaps believe that the animals have no soul and as such they don’t deserve as much kindness as humans. Their expostulation to be kind to animals – if at all – is rarely exemplified by their own actions. They forget the example of our blessed Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). A reading of hadith tells us of the kindness that our prophet (peace be upon him) showed to even creatures that are considered unclean by many people.
Once upon a time, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was traveling with his army. On the road, they encountered a dog with her puppies. When someone attempted to kick the dog aside, he reprimanded that person. He then ordered his army to take a detour and posted a man to stand guard and ensure that the dog was not disturbed by the passing army.
Though animals do not speak in the language of humans (nor do we for that matter) – they communicate their pain, fear and love in their own language. In Sura An-Naml (27:18) we learn of the story of ants: “When King Solomon and his army came to the Valley of the Ants, an ant, who had seen Solomon’s army, said, ‘O ants, enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his army unknowingly crush you!'” The verse indicates that the ants are likened to rational beings in their use of the latter’s speech.
We are expected to apply the same moral rules for all creatures that we apply to fellow humans. Once Hazrat Bayazid Bastami discovered that the grains he had purchased from another city contained ants. He traveled back to that city to return the ants to their native land.
Allah does not designate any creature as being deserving of physical and mental anguish. We are told that Allah is attentive to, and cares for each creature big or small. We read in the Quran: (Surah Hud 11:6) “There is not a single moving creature on the earth, but Allah is responsible for providing its sustenance. He knows where it dwells and where it will permanently rest.6 All this is recorded in a clear Book.”
Each community of animal and birds has its own fair share of natural resources in God’s world. Depriving a creature of its share of sustenance that God has allocated is akin to going against God.
There are many instances in which there is an apparent competition between animals and humans. A farmer needs to protect his livestock and crops from pests including deer, birds and coyote. This can, however, be done with equity and justice in a way that is humane to animals. Is such an approach realistic? Yes. The movie, “The Biggest Little Farm” is based on a real-life story and demonstrates that with co-existence with nature we can attain greater profit.
All life is sacrosanct. In Quran we are told that all creatures – birds and animals – possess a consciousness that is greater than mere instinct. Even the seemingly insignificant animals like fishes and crabs sense pain and fear. Causing anguish to defenseless creatures is an act is completely unacceptable.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said that even the killing of a sparrow without just cause is a crime that would draw God’s wrath. Just cause could only include eating the animal or preventing it from causing harm.
He urged us to take seriously the emotional distress of all creatures. One of Prophet Muhammad’s (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions narrates the following incident: “We were on a journey and came across a bird with its two chicks, which we took. The mother bird started circling above us, beating its wings in grief. When Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) returned, he asked gently, ‘Who has caused this bird distress by taking its chicks? Return them to her.'”
Caring and kindness extends to all nature and goes beyond just caring for sentient beings. Our dominion over nature does not grant us the unrestricted freedom to destroy flora and fauna. As the custodian of nature, if we treat nature with loving care, and use animals only for necessity, our own lives may become happier in subtle ways. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If the Final Hour comes while you have a shoot of a plant in your hands and it is possible to plant it before the Hour comes, you should plant it.” These words highlight that conservation of nature is encouraged by God.
There are so many more stories of Sufis such as Mevlana Rumi that encourages us to be kind to all God’s creatures big and small. Acts of kindness earn us God’s happiness. If we desire to be God’s friend, we have to go beyond ritual prayers and seek His blessings in acts that make Him happy.
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