There’s no denying it. Humans have certainly relied on animals for various things, including food, transport, and clothing, for thousands of years - and it was no different during the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). However, The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not introduce the idea of consuming animal products. When the Quran speaks of consuming animals, it does only because it was speaking the language in which they were living daily and dealt with the reality happening on the ground.

Prophet Muhammad actually forbade the mistreatment or abuse of animals, whether they are companion animals, working animals, or those raised for food. He taught Muslims that animals should be spared all unnecessary suffering - with the key word there being unnecessary. And the consumption of animal products is. In fact, it’s not only entirely unnecessary, it’s deeply harmful, to animals, to the planet and to our bodies. It’s definitely not something that we, as human beings, need to do in order to be healthy, or faithful, and as you scroll down this page, our hope is that you will come to realise that.

Let us not forget that The Prophet's diet primarily consisted of plant-based foods such as dates, barley, figs, grapes, and pumpkin, indicating a semi-vegan approach. When asked about his diet, he would simply reply, "Al Aswadayn," which meant water and dates (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab Al-Riqaq, Hadith #6094). Meat consumption was infrequent for him and, the fact of the matter is, due to the sheer demand for animal products in the 21st century, modern Halal practices completely fail to adhere to the principles for slaughter set out by Him.

In the past, Muslims would consume meat once a week on Fridays if they were wealthy or during the Eids if they were less fortunate. However, the current trend among Muslims involves consuming meat around three times a day, which has contributed to the suffering of animals, the planet and numerous human diseases. 

So, would you, as a Muslim, be doing something wrong and against your religion if you chose to only eat a plant-based diet? The answer is simply, not at all. After all, the only requirement in Islam is that what you eat must be Halal and Tayyib both in the physical and moral sense. A vegan diet is both of those things.

By embracing a vegan lifestyle, Muslims can prioritize their health while truly honouring the teachings of Islam. It promotes physical well-being, aligns with ethical considerations, emphasizes cleanliness and purity, and encourages balance and moderation. Ultimately, adopting a vegan lifestyle is a proactive step towards fulfilling your responsibility as a caretaker of your body and the environment, while striving to lead a wholesome and spiritually fulfilling life.

The Reality of Animal Products

Harm to Animals

“Fear Allah in your treatment of these animals who cannot speak.”

Meat

Now, as I’m sure you’re all aware, the Prophet Muhammad said, "Verily Allah has prescribed ihsan (excellence) in all things. So if you kill, kill well; and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters." This statement, made over 1400 years ago, highlights the importance of minimizing animal suffering, a concept that was simply revolutionary at a time when animals had no rights and were often mistreated.

The Prophet’s goal was to minimize animal suffering, using the best method available at the time: swiftly cutting the throat with a sharp blade. He demonstrated compassion toward animals, as shown by the hadith where he assured a man who spared a sheep from slaughter that Allah would have mercy on him twice.

Today's industrial slaughterhouses, driven by the demands of a colossal global population of nearly 8 billion people, often fail to follow Islamic principles of humane slaughter. Animals endure cruel handling, prolonged transport without food or water, and overcrowded, unsanitary conditions that increase the risk of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19. They are frequently beaten, restrained in primitive conditions, and witness the slaughter of others, contrary to the Prophet’s teachings against causing unnecessary fear or suffering to animals.

The Prophet condemned practices that caused animals to suffer twice, such as sharpening a knife in front of them. So he would almost certainly disapprove of modern practices that prioritize efficiency over animal welfare, despite bearing a Halal label.

With abundant plant-based food options available today, we must question the necessity and ethics of continuing to consume animal products. Genetic modifications and artificial insemination of animals, driven by industrial demands, further deviate from natural and ethical principles, constituting a crime against God’s creation. Islam teaches that altering God's creation is the work of the devil, and modern practices that exploit animals for human pleasure violate these principles.

Reflecting on how the Prophet viewed animal rights, it is clear that the current treatment of animals in the food industry would be deeply troubling to him. We must therefore reconsider our choices and whether they truly align with the compassionate and ethical teachings of Islam.

Dairy

Dairy products are produced primarily from cows milk. Though, of course, there is some demand for goats milk, too. Both of these animals have strong maternal instincts and carry their babies for may months - cows actually carry their calves for nine months, the same as us, and the milk that they produce, just like all mammals, is intended for their babies.

In the dairy industry, most cows are impregnated through artificial insemination - a highly distressing processes that involves farmers restraining the cows and inserting their whole arm into their rectum. Their calves are taken away shortly after birth, in order to maximize milk production. After being separated, both mother and calf experience tremendous grief and anxiety, with farmers freely admitting that they cry out for one another for days, if not weeks afterwards and that this in itself can increase lactation.

Female calves endure the same fate as their mothers, while male calves are typically killed just days after birth, often in a brutal, violent way, or kept for several months before being slaughtered for veal, as there is far less demand for males within the industry. Both sexes are, however, denied the right to drink from their mother and placed onto a weak formula and kept in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time.

For the mother cow, this cycle repeats until she is no longer capable of producing enough milk. When that happens, she is slaughtered for cheap meat, usually at around 4-5 years old, despite her natural lifespan being around 20-25 years.

Since Islam strictly forbids causing both physical and mental harm to animals, with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) Himself saying:

“Who has hurt the feelings of this bird taking its young? Return them to her.”

It begs the very real question, that whilst milk used to be Halal in the time the Quran was written - how can anything about the the modern dairy industry possibly be Halal, and would The Prophet really approve of such a cruel practice?

Eggs
Before human intervention, in their natural environment, hens used to lay around 12 eggs per year, like many other wild birds.
However, the egg industry has now selectively bred hens to produce up to 350+ eggs. This intensive egg-laying cycle severely strains their small bodies, leading to numerous health issues such as osteoporosis and prolapses. This practice of altering a hen's natural egg production is entirely contrary to Islamic principles, which value the preservation of natural order and the well-being of animals.

To maintain the population of productive hens, hatcheries incubate eggs to produce new chicks. Both male and female chicks hatch from these eggs, but the males, being unable to lay eggs, are considered useless by the industry. Consequently, male chicks are killed shortly after hatching, often by methods such as grinding them alive or suffocation. In some cases, they are discarded in garbage bins to die slowly. This treatment of male chicks is profoundly against Islamic teachings, which stress the sanctity of every life. The Quran states, “And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people” (Quran 5:32), highlighting the importance of valuing every individual life.

Throughout their lives, most hens in the egg industry are confined to small, crowded cages where they never experience sunlight or fresh air. They are unable to perform natural behaviors like spreading their wings, perching, or foraging for food. This extreme confinement leads to significant behavioral issues, including aggression and frustration among the hens. To mitigate these issues, the industry often resorts to de-beaking, a process where over a quarter of a hen’s sensitive beak is cut off, all without the use of painkillers. This procedure causes long-term pain.

The use of the words “Free-range” and “organic” were created to make the consumer feel better about their purchase. But, the sad reality is, whether factory farmed, free range, or organic, the egg industry still depletes hens of their calcium through the removal of her eggs, it still sees male chicks as waste products to be disposed of and, whilst cages cannot legally be used, by law, all free-range means is that they must have about an iPad’s worth of space and they are invariably still confined to overcrowded sheds, with very little opportunity to ever see daylight.

When hens are no longer productive, they are sent to slaughter, after enduring a life of suffering. According to Islamic principles, animals should live in good conditions from birth until slaughter for their meat to be considered Halal. And, again, given the massive demand for eggs, no slaughter house can effectively accommodate true Halal rules around slaughter, for there are always other distressed and ill animals present, as well as blood.

The deplorable living conditions and the cruel treatment these hens endure make their meat unlawful to eat, even if they have been slaughtered in a Halal method. Moreover, some hens die from the harsh conditions before they even reach the slaughterhouse, underscoring the inhumanity of the egg industry.

Animal Skins and Fleeces

Islam's teachings on respect and anti-cruelty extend to all animals, including those not consumed for food. Fur, often sourced from animals like mink, foxes, and chinchillas, raises ethical concerns because these animals are kept in terrible conditions, leading to severe suffering. Such treatment is unacceptable in Islam, which prohibits killing animals for sport or luxury, making fur inherently non-Halal except in cases of extreme necessity.

While some argue that using leather is practical since the animal is already destined for slaughter, the process itself frequently involves significant suffering. Additionally, the leather industry profits significantly from this material, contradicting the notion of merely minimizing waste.

Wool production also raises ethical concerns. Shearers, paid by volume, often injure sheep in their haste, leading to untreated wounds and prolonged suffering. Sheep naturally did not require shearing; humans have selectively bred them for excessive wool production, altering their bodies for profit, which, again, directly contradicts the values of and teachings of The Prophet.

Given these considerations, products derived from animals should also be scrutinized for their ethical implications.

Honey

Harm to Health

Harm to the Environment

Animal Skins

Honey