Dear Muslim scholars, men and women alike. I write to you so you can wake the hell up. If you’ve taken offense to this opening statement, then great because I intend to lay out for you standard industry practices across the world in the meat, dairy and egg industries and then perhaps your offense won’t be as important as the suffering of billions of God’s creatures. I may…
Veganistan
Guest author Amna Bakhtiar shares her vegan journey and experiences while spending time with family in Pakistan. Time can change many things. Of the several significant changes in my own life in the past few years, switching to a vegan diet was the hardest for some people in my life to come to terms with. I wasn’t exactly sure how to explain it. I hadn’t watched any animal cruelty videos…
Don’t Kill An Animal This Eid
No, I am not going to sacrifice an animal this Eid-ul-Adha nor am I going to pay someone to do it for me. Instead, my sacrifice is going to be of a non animal nature and yes, it is religiously sanctioned and justified. I saw animals being slaughtered when I was a boy and it hurt me deeply. I couldn’t understand why such beautiful creatures had to die. Still don’t….
Where The Heck Are You Sheikh?
Imams, sheikhs, scholars and community leaders have largely ignored the issues of animal and environmental rights and contributed nothing to making our planet better. Why is it after over 30 years of listening to Friday sermons, seminars, workshops, lectures, YouTube videos, Facebook feeds, etc. there isn’t a single – as in NOT ONE dedicated effort from our leadership to reaching out and protecting and saving animals? Our environment? And I’m…
The Halal Meat Saga
The entire “halal meat” slogan is predicated on a profit driven industry just like any other industry that doesn’t give a damn about the welfare of the animals they mass exterminate or the people who get sick and die from eating them. There is hardly a conversation that I have with a fellow Muslim about being vegan except the inevitable “But it’s halal!” argument being directed at me with the…
A New Fiqh For Food
We need a new fiqh for food. There, I said it. Not because our great scholars of the past and sages of Islamic texts were out of touch but because we are living in dire times right now. Nor am I referring to rendering prohibited food items permissible. The challenges we face today are completely different than many centuries ago. Quick example… A few months ago, I saw a woman…
Why Vegan?
The first thing many Muslims emotionally tell me when they learn I do not eat animal products is “You’re making what is halal, haram!”. There are a number of problems with this statement. The assumption one must eat animals for their Islam to be valid I’ve never claimed nor will I claim such a thing. The assumption is today’s animal products are halal and tayyib (or pure and wholesome), which they…