“And surely there is a lesson for you in cattle: We provide you with a drink out of that [substance] which is in their bellies – coming from a conjunction between the contents of the intestine and the blood – milk which is pleasant for those who drink it.” (Qur’ān 16:66)
The Arabic word ‘farth’ means that glandular protoplasm which is filled with particles of secretions no longer needed by the metabolism, which is secreted out by the body. It has been established by scientists now that milk is a mixture of those particles and life-blood. The messages of some of the above verses are repeated below for emphasis:
“And surely there is a lesson for you in cattle. We provide you with a drink out of their bellies; and there are numerous other uses in them for you; and you get your sustenance out of them. And on them, as on ships, you make your journeys.” (Qur’ān 23:21, 22)
“It is God Who provided for you all manner of livestock, that you may ride on some of them and from some of them you may derive your food. And there are other uses in them for you to satisfy your heart’s desires. It is on them as on ships, that you make your journeys.” (Qur’ān 40:79, 80)
While enumerating the wonders of God’s creation, the camel – the ship of the desert – is pointed out conspicuously in these words:
“Do they not reflect on the camels, how they are created?” (Qur’ān 88:17)
e. The Metaphysics of the Animal Mind
Unfortunately modern scientific research has been confined mostly to the behaviour and physiology of animals. Until recently, in the field of consciousness research, most scientists attributed animal learning purely to instinct. Research work in this field tends to state that no creature other than humans has been endowed with a conscious mind and, hence, has no faculty for higher cognition. This presumption is based on the misconception that even rudimentary spiritual awareness can emanate only from a consciously analytical mind as opposed to the organic life of a body which can exist and grow without the help of apprehensive senses.
What is overlooked in this hypothesis is the fact that the quantum of balance in the conscious and the unconscious elements is of varying degrees in each species. Our scientific research has not yet been able to define the lines of demarcation between the conscious, the unconscious and the subconscious elements of mind, nor have we heard the last word on how these elements interact – hence the confusion about the psyche of animals which ranges from one extreme to the other in the hierarchy of species.
Some creeds have raised them to the sublime position of being capable of receiving human souls; others have deified some animals to a status worthy of worship; while for some, all creatures other than humans are nothing more than food-parcels of flesh and bone, neatly wrapped up solely for the benefit of man. The last view is accepted mainly by those who conveniently find in it a licentious freedom to exploit the defenceless creatures for sadistic pleasure or for gain.
According to the Qur’ānic theology, all living creatures possess a non-physical force of spirit and mind which, in its advanced form, we call ‘psyche’. This concept should not be confused with the concepts of ‘re-incarnation’ or ‘trans-migration’ of souls, which doctrines are based on postulations different from those of Islam. Although animals’ psychic force is of a lower level than that of human beings, there is ample evidence in the Qur’ān to suggest that animals’ consciousness of spirit and mind is of a degree higher than mere instinct and intuition. We are told in the Qur’ān that animals have a cognisance of their Creator and, hence, they pay their obeisance to Him by adoration and worship. Out of the many verses on this proposition, the following few must suffice here:
“Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praises are celebrated by all beings in the heavens and on earth, and by the birds with extended wings? Each one knows its prayer and psalm, And Allah is aware of what they do.” (Qur’ān 24:41)
It is worth noting the statement that ‘each one knows its prayer and psalm’. The execution of a voluntary act, performed consciously and intentionally, requires a faculty higher than that of instinct and intuition. Lest some people should doubt that animals could have such a faculty, the following verse points out that it is human ignorance that prevents them from understanding a phenomenon like this:
“The seven heavens and the earth and all things therein declare His glory. There is not a thing but celebrates His adoration; and yet ye mankind! ye understand not how they declare His glory…” (Qur’ān 17:44)
It is understood that the inanimate elements of nature perform the act of worshipping God without articulate utterances. They do it by submitting themselves (Taslīm) to the Divine Ordinances known as the Laws of Nature. The following verse tells us how all the elements of nature and all the animal kingdom function in harmony with God’s laws; it is only some humans who infringe and, thus, bring affliction on themselves. The Qur’ān dwells on this theme repeatedly to emphasise the point that man should bring himself into harmony with nature, according to the laws of God – as all other creation does:
“Seest thou not that unto Allah payeth adoration all things that are in the heavens and on earth – the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the animals, and a large number among mankind? However, there are many [humans] who do not and deserve chastisement…” (Qur’ān 22:18).
The laws of nature have respect for no one and ‘time and tide wait for no man’. Even the most unruly and the unsubmissive have to submit to those laws, whether they like it or not – as the Qur’ān tells us:
“And unto Allah prostrate themselves [in submission] whosoever are in the heavens and on earth, whether willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the mornings and evenings.” (Qur’ān 13:15)
The analogy of shadows is employed here to emphasise the point that man’s submission should be like that of their shadows, which fall flat on the ground in the mornings and evenings – the times of the day when shadows are at their longest.
In the case of animals, however, the Qur’ān tells us that God actually communicates with them, as the following verse shows:
“And your Lord revealed to the bee, saying: ‘make hives in the mountains and in the trees, and in [human] habitations’.” (Qur’ān 16:68)
It is anybody’s guess what form God’s communication with animals takes. We know only this, that the Qur’ān uses the same Arabic word Waḥy for God’s revelation to all His Prophets, including the Holy Prophet Muḥammad(s), as it uses in the case of the bee. It is obvious that the connotation of God’s revelations to His Messengers would be different from that of His revelations to animals. This is a serious theological subject which cannot be dealt with here. Nevertheless, it proves the basic fact that animals have a sufficient degree of psychic endowment to understand and follow God’s messages – a faculty which is higher than instinct and intuition.
According to a great Confucian sage, Hsun-Tzu, who lived in the third century B.C., all living creatures between heaven and earth which have blood and breath must possess consciousness.13 Similarly, the very cognisance of human relationship with the rest of the species in Buddhist literature and the Hindu Vedānta is based on the premise that all living creatures (jiva) possess the faculties of thinking and reasoning (Manas)
f. Rights in the Resources of Nature
Once it has been established that each species of animals is a ‘community’ like the human community, it stands to reason that each and every creature on earth has, as its birth-right, a share in all the natural