ENLGISH-DIVINE LAW, ETHICS, AND HUMAN NATURE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ANIMAL SLAUGHTER IN ISLAM AND HINDUISM

Abstract

The issue of slaughtering animals to eat has been the subject of religious, ethical and scientific argument over the centuries. In this paper, the authors will analyze the Islamic and Hindu views on the allowability of slaughtering animals as a source of food to people. The eating of meat has been explicitly allowed in Islam under certain conditions established by God whereas Hinduism has a more mixed and diverse perspective: some of the texts allow meat to be eaten under specific conditions and the rest support vegetarianism. This article compares the two traditions by comparing Quranic verses, the literature of the Hindu religion including the Manusmriti, Mahabharata, and Vedas. Logical arguments, based on human biology, nutrition science, and the philosophical debate of Ahimsa, such as whether plants can suffer pain, are also included in the study. The results indicate that the two religions have subtle stands and a simplistic way of depicting them as either entirely permissive or entirely restrictive is not true.