TREATMENT OF ANIMALS DURING EID
Eid-ul-Adha invites every Muslim to reflect upon the true sacrifice which makes one the recipient of Almighty’s blessings reminding us that those who annihilate themselves for Almighty Allah are the ones who attain eternal life.
It is vital that instead of focusing on the physical aspect of the sacrifice on Eid, Muslims ought to focus on the true spirit of the sacrifice so that it helps Islam and the Light of God Almighty spreads on the earth.
Allah the Almighty states that ‘their flesh reaches not Allah nor does their blood, but it is your righteousness that reaches Him.'
In Shari'ah, contrary to what many believe, the essence of the very idea behind the udhiyah is not to partake in a sacrificial offering in remembrance of the Prophet Ibraham’s sacrifice of a sheep instead of his son.
There are several suppressed and forgotten meanings in the whole logic of the udhiyah. The initial idea was to bring the various classes of society together in a social event where the poor dine with the rich, eating the food items of the rich at the same table, sharing the meat with needy families in festive social events.
The point of Eid al-Adha is not the sheep or the meat; the point is sharing and community and above all, brotherhood and sisterhood in the true sense of the word. Also, among the classical jurists, it is well-established that money can be dispensed directly to the needy so that they may feed themselves in the way that they see most fit, and one does not need to be limited to the distribution of meat.
The sacrifice is not an offering to a deity, and it is not a symbolic reproduction of the atonement per Ibrahim's almost sacrifice.
There have been many instances of cruelty and undue suffering caused to animals in Eid al-Adha, animal slaughter during Eid al-Adha seem to be far more focused on the interests of the person doing the killing instead of a proper focus on being merciful and compassionate towards the animal being killed.
The Prophet Mohammad's sunnah also states that animals should not be slaughtered in front of another because slaughtering an animal before another causes the animal fear and anxiety.
Simply mentioning Allah’s name at the time of dhabh does not make the meat halal. The mentioning of God’s name is an invocation that had it not been but for God’s permission, the killing of an animal would not be allowable.
The reason for the invocation being that taking the animal's life in the name of God is knowing that every life has an entitlement to exist and this entitlement cannot be revoked except with God’s permission. After the invocation of God’s name, the dhabh has to be with a sharp knife administered in the correct place so that the animal will not suffer and its nervous system would be severed immediately, and there will be a correct bleed out of the animal after the severing.
Sacrificing an animal during the festivities is Muslims’ right and a command of the Islamic law and guidance. It is not lawful for anyone to impose a restriction upon this practice, nor is it possible for Muslims to abandon it. Animals can also be reasonably killed as food for mankind. However, it is instructive to note that the Nigerian law frowns at cruelty to animals.
Section 495 of the Criminal Code expressly prohibits animal cruelty with the punishment for it being "Imprisonment for 6 months or fine it N50."
The World Animal Protection (WAP) has so far consistently graded Nigeria deplorably on animal protection indices, as evident from its report of March 2020. This is principally due to a lack of proper legislation regulating the incidence of animals in the country.
Despite the fact that there is no report that anybody has ever been tried and convicted for the offence, the 1999 Constitution prohibits the abuse of animals under Miscellaneous Offences.
As a nation, Nigeria ought to support international initiatives on animal welfare in order to demonstrate to its people and the world its commitment to this humane cause.
There’s an urgent need for legal awareness as a lot of persons wallow in the ignorance of the law, and ignorance of the law is unfortunately not an excuse — Ignorantia juris non excusat. Know the law: cruelty to animals is a crime.
FROM THE DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH
Post a Comment