In the name of Allāh,
the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Peace and Blessings of Allāh on Mohammad.
DEDICATED TO
Allāh–the Glorious and the High,
Lord of the worlds
AND TO
Mohammad–who brought the world
to our feet and eternity to our arms.
*
VEGETARIANISM
Whereas, in India, Hindus menace and even kill Muslims for killing cows for food. It is observed that India is one of the biggest exporters of beef: “About 1.5 million metric tons of Carcass Weight Equivalent (CWE) of beef and veal were exported from India in 2022. The CWE of beef and veal is likely to be 1.5 million metric tons in 2023, and stood third in terms of production volume in the world. Dec 1, 2022.” Google, Color added).
So, the meat is not good to eat, but the broth (money) is good to drink (take). So who kill the cows for Hindus/India?
Did God enjoin vegetarianism or are those who condemn the killing of animals for consumption promoting themselves as being more “ethical” and civil than God?
Whereas animals are to be fed wholesome diets and raised humanely, there is no Divine ordinance forbidding eating animals. The Bible, Qur’an, Mahabharata, Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana and RgVeda, allow killing and eating animals.
-Animal killing in the Bible: “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat”–(Genesis 9:3-4. This is only a general statement See Leviticus chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapters 12 and 14 for details on allowance and forbiddance).
Killing animal(s) is allowed for atonement–(Leviticus 1:1-9); and as proof of innocence of murder, in which (they) “shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley”–(Deut. 21:1-9).
–Animal killing in the Qur’an:
-“O men, eat the lawful and good things from what is in the earth….He (Allāh) has forbidden you only what dies of itself, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) Allāh has been invoked. Then whoever is driven by necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin is upon him. Surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful”-(Qur’an 2:168-173)
-“And of the cattle (He has created) some for burden and some for slaughter. Eat of that which Allāh has given you and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Surely he is your open enemy”-(Qur’an 6:142; 16:114-115)
Allāh tells us the kind of meat we are allowed to eat. Not that we are to eat the entire animal at one sitting. We are to balance meat and vegetables –vegetables also are of the “good things” that are in the earth. It is doubtful that a person will develop heart-disease from eating 2-3 ounces of lean beef/meat three/four times a week or even eating this amount daily.
Interestingly, whereas veganites have low cholesterol and heart disease, a tour on the Internet shows that vegetarians are not the healthiest people and they tend to suffer other illnesses than meatarians. Including mental illness.
Equally significant, report has shown that non-meat burgers contain FOUR TIMES MORE sodium than beef and may also contain HIGHER LEVELS of saturated fat; also that meat-free burgers and other vegan foods are mostly “derivative” ingredients of plants instead of whole vegetables; the report also notes that vegan food products lose important nutrients in processing.
https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/great-veggie-burgers-are-here-but-are-they-any-healthier-w449490/ (If link does not connect please copy and paste). (KEEP THE FAKE BEEF; GIVE ME THE REAL BIT).
Seemingly, the best diet would be a balance of lean meat, skinless poultry, fish, vegetables and whole grains. And in moderation. Prophet Mohammad is reported to have said that (noting from memory) The worst vessel the son of Adam can fill is his stomach; and that one-third of the stomach is for food, one-third for drink, and one third for air.
No, you do not have to measure your stomach. A person in tune with his body should be able to tell how full his stomach is.
-Animal killing in the Mahabharata. Jawaharlal Nehru states: “The eating of beef, previously countenanced, is later absolutely prohibited. In the Mahabharata there are references to beef or veal being offered to honoured guests”–(The Discovery of India, p.108).
(This prohibition may have been instituted by Buddha; Swami Prabhupada states in his commentary to Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (4:7): “Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Krsna…..Although there are certain restrictive rules and regulations regarding animal sacrifice for particular purposes in the Vedas, people of demonic tendency still took to animal sacrifice without reference to the Vedic principles. Lord Buddha appeared to stop this nonsense and to establish the Vedic principles of non-violence.”
Seems that Buddha only put an end to sacrifices that were “without reference to the Vedic principles.” It is unlikely that Buddha would criticize or prohibit an ordinance of God).
–Animal killing in the Bhagavad-Gita. Swami Prabhupada, commenting on the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is 18:3, states: “Although animal killing in a sacrifice is recommended in the Vedic literature, the animal is not considered to be killed. The sacrifice is to give a new life to the animal. Sometimes the animal is given a new animal life after being killed in the sacrifice, and sometimes the animal is promoted immediately to the human form of life.”
In which event the Muslims annual sacrifice of Eid-ul-Adha might be doing a tremendous good to millions of souls trapped in animal forms by freeing them “immediately to the human form of life.”
This sacrificing of animals cannot be restricted to Hinduism; Hindus say that Ishwar and Allāh are two names of the same God, though Ishwar did not reveal Karma and Reincarnation. (As the Qur’an sanctions the slaughter of animals for food, Hindus opposing the eating of meat would be opposing Ishwar).
-Animal killing in the Ramayana: Rama and his brother, “killed four large animals –a boar, an antelope, a gazelle, and a great black buck. They were famished and took meat hurriedly;” they also “killed many animals such as are pure to consume and ate them in a grove by the Yamuna.” (Sheldon I. Pollock, The Ramayana of Valmiki, Vol; I, pp. 183, 190). (Given that Hindus say Rama is God then, God killed animals and ate meat. And as Rama is said to be an incarnate (avatar) of the God Vishnu, then, by extension, Vishnu killed animals and ate meat)
About Rama killing animals and eating meat, C. Rajagopalachari states, “Some good men are troubled by this. But meat was not prohibited for Kshatriyas. Indeed, it has always been the rule in India to permit any food legitimately obtained and consecrated as a sacrifice. Rama was a Kshatriya and he lived in the forest in the Kshatriya way, though abstemiously.” (Ramayana, p. 90. Italics added).
In some parts of India “gramadevatas” (village deities) are appeased with “animal sacrifices as a way of warding off and removing epidemics, crop failures, and other natural disasters.” (Ency. Brit. 15th edn; art. gramadevata, Vol. IV, p. 667.
Goats are “sacrificed” to the goddess Kali “daily.” And “to avert cattle epidemics a bull is sacrificed to Rudra” (who is Shiva in another form). (Hamlyn, Man and his Gods, p. 180.
-Animal killing in the RgVeda: In Rig Veda (X. 86.14) Indra says: “They cook for one 15 plus twenty oxen.” The Rig Veda (X.91.14) says that for Agni were sacrificed horses, bulls, oxen, barren cows and rams. From the Rig Veda (X.72.6) it appears that the cow was killed with a sword or axe: https://www.countercurrents.org/ ambedkar050315.htm
(Quotes from the Rig Veda are taken from Ralph T. H. Griffith, Hymns Of The RgVeda, Volumes I and II. Reference to quotes such as, X. LXXVI. 13-14. Vol. 2, p. 548, indicates that the quote is taken from Book X, Hymn LXXVI verses 13-14, of Volume 2, p. 548)
(Cow/ox sacrifice):
“Wealthy Vrsakapayi….
Indra will eat thy bulls, thy
dear oblation that effecteth much.
Supreme is Indra over all.
Fifteen in number, then, for me a
score of bullocks they prepare, and
I devour the fat thereof:
they fill my belly full with food. …”
(X. LXXVI. 13-14. Vol. 2, p. 548)
The Rig Veda, I. CLXII. 1-22. Vol. 1, pp. 227-230 speaks of goat and horse sacrifice:
3. Dear to all Gods, this goat, the share of Pusan, is first led forward with the vigorous Courser, While Tvastar sends him forward with the Charger, acceptable for sacrifice, to glory.
4. When thrice the men lead round the Steed, in order, who goeth to the Gods as meet oblation, The goat precedeth him, the share of Pusan, and to the Gods the sacrifice announceth.
9. What part of the Steed’s flesh the fly hath eaten, or is left sticking to the post or hatchet, Or to the slayer’s hands and nails adhereth,–among the Gods, too, may all this be with thee.
10. Food undigested steaming from his belly, and any odour of raw flesh remaining, This let the immolators set in order and dress the sacrifice with perfect cooking.
12. They who observing that the Horse is ready call out and say, the smell is good; remove it; And, craving meat, await the distribution,–may their approving help promote our labour.
18. The four-and-thirty ribs of the swift Charger, kin to the Gods, the slayer’s hatchet pierces. Cut ye with skill, so that the parts be flawless, and piece by piece declaring them dissect them.
21. No, here thou diest not, thou art not injured: by easy paths unto the Gods thou goest. Both bays, both spotted mares are now thy fellows, and to the ass’s pole is yoked the Charger.
22. May this Steed bring us all-sustaining riches, wealth in good kine, good horses, manly offspring. Freedom from sin may Aditi vouchsafe us: the Steed with our oblations gain us lordship!”
(Notably, verse 21 above says that in this sacrifice, the horse is “not injured.” So when Hindus kill animals they are “not injured,” but when Muslims kill/ sacrifice animals they are injured?
Regarding this horse sacrifice. In his Ramayana, C. Rajagopalachari records Rama as saying to Guha: “I must not touch dishes daintily cooked and served. We have to live only on fruits, roots and permissible kinds of meat such as we offer in the sacrificial fire.”–p. 88).
There are some who quote the RgVeda to show that it does not allow killing/eating cow/beef. So which is the correct view –to kill/eat the cow/beef or to not kill/eat the cow/beef?
That the RgVeda does not sanction eating beef is incorrect; Dr. Ambedkar explains:
“So far as the evidence from the Rig Veda is concerned the conclusion is based on a misreading and misunderstanding of the texts. The adjective Aghnya applied to the cow in the Rig Veda means a cow that was yielding milk and therefore not fit for being killed. That the cow is venerated in the Rig Veda is of course true. But this regard and veneration of the cow are only to be expected from an agricultural community like the Indo-Aryans. This application of the utility of the cow did not prevent the Aryan from killing the cow for purposes of food. Indeed, the cow was killed because the cow was regarded as sacred. As observed by Mr. Kane: “It was not that the cow was not sacred in Vedic times, it was because of her sacredness that it is ordained in the Vajasaneyi Samhita that beef should be eaten.” (Dharma Shastra Vichar in Marathi, p.180).” (Color added)
https://www.countercurrents.org/ambedkar050315.htm (If link does not connect please copy and paste. Thank you)
The ideal situation could not be “vegetarianism” seeing that God had “respect” for Abel’s animal offering and “had not respect” for Cain’s “fruit” offering”–(Genesis 4:1-5).
Unless the veganites who condemn killing and eating of animals are atheists they are promoting themselves to be more “ethical” and civil than their God.
Since there is no Divine injunction for vegetarianism; from where/who did the practice originate? No one seems to know:
According to Anoop Chandola, “The Dravidians are conjectured to have added such aspects as yoga, puja….vegetarianism”–(The Way To True Worship, p. 8. Italics/emphasis added).
Since the Veda, Gita, and Ramayana allow animal sacrifice/killing, and since Hindus/ksatriyas are “not prohibited” from eating cow/meat, what is the religious basis for vegetarianism in Hinduism?
Swami Dayananda Saraswati seems to supply the answer, he wrote: “The Aryas should neither themselves kill such useful animals as cows, nor let others do the same (as cows give milk and calves)….“Therefore, it is that the Aryas have always regarded the cow as the most useful animal”–(Light Of Truth, pp. 321-322. What about bulls? And cows that have passed the stage of calving and milking? As noted, Only milk-yielding cows were not to be killed)..
Hinduism’s vegetarianism is rooted in economy not in theology.
In contrast to vegetarianism, animal sacrifice is pleasing to God. When Noah, after the Flood, “offered burnt offerings” “of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl” “the Lord smelled a SWEET SAVOUR”–(Genesis 8:20-21). So “EMBRACE HEAVEN! EAT BEEF!”
KEEP YOUR FAKE BEEF; GIVE ME THE REAL BIT.