Animals in Islam

In Islam, God has a relationship with animals: He cares for them and they praise Him, even if this praise is not expressed in human language.Baiting animals for entertainment or gambling is prohibited.

The Quran explicitly allows the eating of the meat of certain ḥalāl (Arabic: حَـلَال‎, lawful) animals. Although some Sufis have practised vegetarianism, there has been no serious discourse on the possibility of vegetarian interpretations. Certain animals can be eaten under the condition that they are slaughtered in a specified way. Animals cannot be stunned to death under the Sharia, but can be stunned to make them unconscious and unable to feel the pain of ritual slaughter carried out post-stunning; this, according to the BBC, includes most of the halal meat in the United Kingdom. Prohibitions include swine, carrion, and animals involved in dhabīḥah (Arabic: ذَبِـيـحَـة‎, ritual slaughter) in the name of someone other than God. The Quran also states "eat of that over which the name of Allah, hath been mentioned."

In pre-Islamic Arabia, Arab Bedouin, like other people, attributed the qualities and the faults of humans to animals. Generosity, for example, was attributed to the cock; perfidy to the lizard; stupidity to the bustard; and boldness to the lion.

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