by Cyril Anderson

 A movement that has acquired increasing acceptance within the Muslim community is that of vegetarianism.  More and more Muslims are choosing this way of eating.  There is a lot of resistance from Muslim community however.  There is a very strong cultural attachment to heavy meat eating, particularly in Arab circles.  Some even seem to have the impression that it is almost mandatory to eat meat at every meal.

But the question is whether this sort of attitude is consistent with the values of Islam?  A closer examination uncovers that the truth is very much the opposite.  The Prophet Muhammad (saws), for example, ate very little meat, almost none in fact, and this in a desert environment where the lifestyle and climate makes it biologically almost necessary for nutrition.  Muhammad (saws) enjoyed it on occasion, and when it was offered to him, in keeping with his teachings of politeness and good manners, he accepted in moderation.  Imam Ali (as), similarly ate meat only very rarely, many accounts saying less than once a month.  How far this is from the diet of many amongst us!

 There are narrations in fact from Imam Ali (as) discouraging the eating of too much meat.  “Don’t let your stomach become a graveyard for animals” is one;

“Eating meat excessively will harden your heart” is another.  These are strong words that those who believe they have some heavenly mandated obligation to eat meat every meal should consider. 

 There are a number of physiological characteristics in us that argue at the minimum against too much meat eating, and even argue for a vegetarian diet, or very nearly so.  Our bodies are neither that of a carnivore nor of an herbivore, but they are built much closer to those of herbivores like rabbits or deer than those of carnivores like lions or wolves.

1.     First of all are our teeth and jaws.  We are not equipped with many sharp teeth for tearing flesh.  As well, our jaws that can go side to side, allowing grinding, as opposed to carnivores, which have a simple hinging jaw that allows only up and down movements to pierce and tear flesh.

2.     Secondly, our mouths produce saliva with amylase for breaking down starches, like herbivores, while carnivores release enzymes to pre-digest meat.

3.     Thirdly, in terms of our teeth, our mouths have grinders to grind nuts and hard vegetables, like herbivores, while carnivores like cats and dogs just have sharp teeth to tear off chunks and then swallow.

4.      Fourthly, carnivores have huge stomachs that act as acid baths to break down protein into amino acids.  We have an acid bath stomach, but our stomach is smaller like that of an herbivore.

5.     Carnivores have short digestive tract to quickly move the waste material, consisting of rapidly rotting meat out of the system.  We on the other hand have a long digestive tract, like herbivores, to absorb as many nutrients as possible and to be as efficient with the food as possible, like herbivores

6.    We cannot run fast to catch prey, nor do we have sharp claws for tearing apart animals that are caught.

Now, of course, it is true that unlike most animals, we have God-given reason and can build tools to hunt and carve meat, but still, these are compelling arguments. 

 Vegetarian Muslims are often confronted by self-righteous brethren who browbeat them with the Qu’ran verse warning about making the halal (permissible) haram (forbidden).  The problem with this is that vegetarian Muslims are not saying meat is haram.  They simply choose not to eat it.  We humans have the free will to choose which of the thousands of halal foods to eat.  The simple truth is that we do not have any clear physiological need to eat meat and there is no strong religious commandment to do so.

 There is a hadith from Muhammad (saws) recommending to eat meat once every 40 days.  However, it could be questioned whether this was a timeless commandment for all times and places, a recommendation, or, rather, a teaching specific to his time and place, when the climate of the place and the difficulties of farming made it almost necessary to eat some meat from grazing animals to get enough nutrients.

Ayatullah Fadlallah has declared that a vegetarian diet is permissible for Muslims as long as they do not believe or teach that such a diet is mandatory for Muslims.  You will find that most vegetarians say no such things.  They may recommend their diet, but that is a different thing from saying that it is obligatory.  It can however, be unambiguously argued that eating as little meat as possible is part of the sunnah of the Prophet (saws) and Imams (as). 

 The vegetarian diet can indeed be seen as a voluntary continuation of the Islamic teachings regarding the need to treat animals properly and not to make them suffer.  The earth is given to serve our needs, but we are to treat our servants with respect.  We can use animals for farming, but cannot beat or mistreat them.  We can eat animals, but must kill them in a humane way through halal slaughter.  Not eating animals period, in vegetarianism, or, even further, using no animal products at all for your diet, in veganism, can be seen as a natural continuation of these Islamic principles, taking the suffering of animals caused by your lifestyle to its absolute minimum.  This must of course be understood as a choice, and not an obligation, just as we have the option of doing more prayers or fasting than the obligatory