On Friday, 14 October 2016, the internet news channels went crazy over one piece of news. The news was about the slaughter of 70 quails. It was not about the mass murders systematically conducted by governments of India and Israel, or the deaths in war torn countries. Many choose to remain silent over the murder of humans.
Quails were slaughtered for a lesson in the Islamic method of slaughtering animals. Cries were heard far and wide condemning this lesson. Apparently, the Islamic method to slaughter animals has become a polemic. One parent even said his child was traumatised from the incident.
There are other points that I will be touching but let us go over this one by one. One boy gets traumatised and things should be stopped. Maybe we can stop schools from conducting exams too on the grounds of trauma. Exams like SPM, PT3, UPSR, A levels, and the rest should be banned.
If given a choice to retake these exams, even without the associated consequences, many would decline. It is one traumatising experience for a student to take across the board exams. So yes, exams of this kind should be banned. Among the many students studying in the school, one bad apple gets to decide the fate of humanity.
Let us go on to other points brought up, especially the points from liberals. I just love arguing with them. One liberal even said I treat them like fodder. Basically fodder is the food for livestock. The thing is, liberals say their voices and opinions are always suppressed. But somehow, they manage to get most of the exposure on internet media. That is after being oppressed.
I never stop people from sharing their opinions. Partly because, it is not my job to stop them. Secondly, they should be given the space to share their views. It would have been really helpful if I got the same amount of limelight. Would have really appreciated that. But I guess the ones who are oppressed somehow manage to get more of their views heard.
That is, despite the oppression. What an astounding form of oppression I must say. They get to conduct programs in five star hotels, they get the media coverage and here you have me. I barely make it to the news from the liberal channels. The very same channels that claim to be proponents of “freedom of speech”. I still don’t quite understand their version of freedom.
Back to the quails. One parent even asked if the exercise followed halal guidelines. I am very sure it would not have followed the guidelines for halal slaughtering. Why would it? It was done as a part of a subject under the Islamic Studies course. Could not possibly have been following the Islamic guidelines.
After all Islamic Studies teach pupils to slaughter animals without having any guidelines at all. The teacher(s) purposely chose unIslamic methods to teach this subject. On to the other questions, or rather issues raised.
There is this guy called Azhar Harun, or Art. According to Art, the students should have been taught the meaning of sacrifice rather than the ritual sacrifice of animals. He goes on to say how a teacher showed his son a video of Muslim hell. After watching the video, his son could not sleep for days.
Unless the teacher has been to hell it would have been impossible to show a video of hell. Probably the teacher went there to make a video and then came back. Instead of congratulating the teacher for being able to make a video in hell he was not happy. I mean, who could have possibly imagined that it is possible to make videos in hell. The permit must have been gravely difficult to obtain if you know what I mean.
Then, this guy called Wan Ji Wan Hussin mentioned about his inability to slaughter animals. According to Wan Ji, children could be traumatised from watching birds getting killed. Who knew that Wan Ji is an expert in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or otherwise known as PTSD. It is okay to eat and become the fattest nation in Asia, but slaughtering a chicken is a no go. Kudos to Malaysians for this astounding feat. Now 45.3% of us Malaysians have a BMI higher than 25.
You should never know how your food is prepared. Just eat till you drop. Drop dead that is. Enough sarcasm I guess, on to the more pressing matters. Birds were slaughtered, to teach. It is a learning process, and I am sure the meat was put to good use. How many animals are killed in the name of science in schools?
Frogs, fishes, and mice to name a few of the animals that are used in school labs. These animals are sacrificed for the sake of knowledge. Somehow it is okay to kill animals in the name of science. Slaughtering birds for the sake of teaching is rather wrong in this case.
For those who have a pity for the life of these animals, move on. We can’t all be vegetarians, and why should we? What you can eat you eat, what you can not, you let live. Secondly the Islamic method of sacrifice is very considerate towards the animal.
The Prophet told us not to sharpen the knife used for slaughter in front of an animal. Animals should not see other animals being slaughtered. Knives have to be very sharp so as to minimise the pain inflicted. The action should be swift, so as to let the animal die quickly. After severing the carotid artery and the jugular vein the animal spasms. There is no pain because the brain does not get any oxygen.
Since the lesson was from the Islamic Studies subject, then it would have followed these guidelines. As for the liberals, trying to divert the learning process to other matters, it does not make sense. Sometimes you need to learn things, even if you don’t like it. And sometimes after learning you grow fond of that matter.
It is easy to say, people should learn the value of sacrifice and not sacrifice animals. Sacrifices made in life are not as simple as being taught in a classroom. Many a times, these sacrifices are taught by life. We can teach people to value sacrifice. We can teach people to sacrifice. The true lesson only comes when one has to truly sacrifice something in life.
Learning is obligatory upon every Muslim. Stopping the education process would not benefit anyone. Islam is a way of life and is not limited to mere rituals in the Mosques or at home. Teaching should start from a very young age, and in this time and age the earlier you learn the better.
Demeaning Islam will definitely not benefit anyone. Insinuating cruelty in everything associated with Islam will only cause disunity in society. Malaysia is an Islamic nation, well at least according to the Federal Constitution. Islamic customs and practices should be respected by everyone.
As far as this piece is concerned, part of learning is to know about what you eat. Halal food is an integral part of a Muslim’s life. Knowing how halal food is prepared is probably the most basic forms of knowledge there is for a Muslim. You know what they say, you are what you eat.
Rehan Ahmad Bin Jamaluddin Ahmad
Research Fellow, Institut Kajian Strategik Islam Malaysia (IKSIM)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, and should not be attributed to, Isma or Ismaweb.
