Outside the sandstone arches of the Taj-ul-Masajid in Bhopal, a small group of women gathered beneath the midday heat wearing bright green headscarves. They held simple banners printed in Urdu and English, asking passersby to celebrate the coming holiday with plant-based kindness. The peaceful demonstration quickly met fierce resistance. Shouts erupted, a crowd formed, and the volunteers had to be escorted away by local police after facing physical threats. The incident exposed a raw nerve running through modern religious culture, where diet and devotion constantly collide.
Across much of the contemporary Islamic world, tables laden with spiced mutton, kebabs, and slow-cooked lamb feel central to cultural identity. Yet history tells a vastly different story. For centuries, plant-centered meals were the daily reality across the Middle East and North Africa. Copious meat consumption is a recent modern development. Prominent scholars such as Sheikh Hamza Yusuf have pointed out that early Muslim communities ate so little meat that their everyday diet was essentially vegetarian. Wealthier families might indulge once a week on Friday, while poorer households reserved meat strictly for major feast days. The Prophet Muhammad even cautioned against making meat a daily habit, warning his followers about its addictive nature and urging them never to view animals as mere instruments of human appetite.
When turning directly to foundational scripture, the case for ethical consideration becomes even clearer. The sixth chapter of the Qur’an explicitly states that all creatures walking upon the earth or flying on two wings form distinct communities, sharing existence with humanity. In this framework, human beings are appointed as trustees and stewards rather than destructive exploiters. Classical traditions reinforce this mandate, noting that a single act of kindness toward an animal carries the same spiritual weight as assisting a human being.
Traditional guidelines for slaughter, known as dhabīḥah, were designed centuries ago to reduce suffering and instill mindfulness. The rules require a calm animal, clean water, a concealed blade, and a swift cut carried out away from other livestock. The harsh reality of modern industrial meat production shatters these spiritual safeguards. In factory farms and massive slaughter facilities, animals are processed along high-speed assembly lines while pre-recorded prayers blare through loudspeakers. Undercover investigations routinely reveal severe handling violations, chaotic transport, and negligent practices that contradict the core purpose of humane treatment. Mechanization has turned a sacred covenant of mindfulness into routine mass processing.
This ethical crisis becomes especially poignant during Eid al-Adha, the annual feast commemorating the faith of the Prophet Ibrahim. Many young Muslims grew up witnessing animals slaughtered on neighbourhood streets, a visceral reality that pushed activists and writers such as Nada Elbarshoumi of One Arab Vegan to look deeper into the meaning behind the ritual. Scripture offers clarity on the subject. The Qur’an states that neither the meat nor the blood reaches God, explaining that what truly matters is internal righteousness and moral intention. The original event was an exercise in relinquishing personal ego and sharing wealth with the vulnerable. Organizations like the Vegan Muslim Initiative urge believers to fulfill this charitable duty by distributing plant-based meals, funding clean water projects, and supporting long-term economic relief.
Skeptics often dismiss veganism as a foreign cultural trend. That assumption ignores the rich heritage of plant-based culinary traditions across Arab and Islamic societies, where dishes centered on lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, and seasonal vegetables have sustained communities for generations. Islamic legal authorities, including Sayyid Fadhlullah and Ayatullah Shirazi, have explicitly affirmed that adopting a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle is entirely permissible under religious law. Eating meat has always been an option rather than a religious requirement.
The cultural conversation is now gaining significant momentum. Prominent figures like Saudi entrepreneur Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal are investing heavily in sustainable food technology and bringing plant-based options to the Gulf. Their visibility builds upon decades of courageous work by Muslim women activists who challenged social resistance to promote animal welfare. In an era marked by climate disruption, water scarcity, and environmental strain, embracing a compassionate, plant-based diet reconnects modern believers with an ancient tradition of ethical stewardship.
Bibliographic Information
- Title: Veg(etari)an Arguments in Culture, History, and Practice
- Subtitle: The V Word
- Editors: Cristina Hanganu-Bresch and Kristin Kondrlik
- Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (An imprint of Springer Nature Switzerland AG)
- Publication Year: 2021
- Edition: First Edition
- ISBN: 978-3-030-53279-6 (Hardcover); 978-3-030-53280-2 (eBook)
- Historical Period Covered: Antiquity (Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, early Islamic origins) to the contemporary era (early 20th-century Italy, mid-20th-century literature, late 1990s food libel lawsuits, and 21st-century social, digital, and political animal advocacy movements).
- Main Subject Areas: Rhetoric and Composition, Critical Animal Studies, Food Studies, Cultural History, Ecocriticism, Feminist/Queer Theory, Religious Studies, and Public Health Communication.
[Ch. 2, p. 29]