A very important mention should be made here of the Anti Kine(Cow) Killing Movement of 1880-1894 where even prominent Muslims from all parts of India took part which shows that beef is not important at all in Islam.
Do watch this informative Talk on #SangamTalks about the British conspiracy and execution of giving legal status to Cow Slaughter based on renowned historian Dharam Pal ji’s 2002 book titled ”British Origin of Cow Slaughter In India with some British documents on the Anti-Kine Killing Movement 1880-1894”. Watch here:
Islam experts state unavailability of any Hadith stating that Mohammad ate beef. A number of authenticated statements, however, are available of Mohammad where he confirms that cow meat or bovine meat is illness causing whereas cow’s milk and fat are full of cures and heals.
From Mulaikah bint ‘Amr: Mohammad said: “The milk of the cattle contains healing, its fat is a medicine, and its meat (causes) sickness.” (Tabarani)
Declared Saheeh by Shaykh Albani in Silsilat as-Saheehah (1533) and Saheeh al-Jami’ (1233)
Another hadith From Ibn Mas`ûd : Mohammad said: “Use the milk and fat of the cow and avoid its flesh, for indeed its milk and fat are a medicine and its flesh is a disease.” [Mustadrak al-Hâkim]
Imam Suyuti in his al-Jami as-Saghir, Abu al-Qasim Sulaiman ibn Ahmad ibn Al-Tabarani, very popular Hadith experts , referred to the aforementioned Hadith as authentic, and so did Bayhaqi in his Sunan and Hakim in his Mustadrak.
As per an article (link given below) : Cow slaughter is not mandated in Islam, poor Muslims are not obliged to offer sacrifice and that neither the Quran or Arab traditions support cow sacrifice.
There have been many instances related to cow protection during the life and times of Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer.
Hamiduddin Nagori of Rajasthan is said to have been a vegetarian all his life and entry to the Dargah after eating meat is explicitly prohibited even today.
Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the fourth Khalifa as per Sunni belief, has been quoted in Sharh Nahjul Balagha, as saying: “Do not make your stomach a graveyard of animals”.
From Fatwa-e-Humayuni to Darul Mukhtiar to Maulana Hassan Nizami and Hakim Ajmal Khan, the message has been reiterated time and again that cow slaughter is not mandated in Islam, that sacrifice of sheep and goat are considered superior to cow slaughter, that poor Muslims are not obliged to offer sacrifice and that neither the Quran or Arab traditions support cow sacrifice.
Bahadur Shah Zafar, issued a decree declaring as his enemy any person who sacrificed any cow, bull or calf openly or otherwise and making such an act punishable by death, an order which bore strong resemblance to a firman issued by Akbar. French Traveller Francois Bernier, who closely studied the Mughal courts, also mentions in his works that cow slaughter was akin to man slaughter under the law.
Bangalori Mastan of Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, was a vegetarian and ran a cow shelter.
Sayyed Ibrahim Khan or Ras Khan, follower of lord Krishna, stated that the best place to live in the world for animals was Gokul which was sanctified by the presence of cows.
Due to climatic and topographical reasons and the easy availability of meat in the Muslim-dominated regions of West Asia, it became an integral part of the food habits of the inhabitants. But they were less bovines there and majorly goat, sheep and camels were eaten.
In contrast, in India, with its abundant agricultural output, meat did not and should not acquire the status of a staple diet among Muslims.
Dr Rashid Ali Khan of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, was brutally murdered by the meat mafia in 2003 for his vehement opposition to cow slaughter.
Shahzad Ahmed was another Muslim youth who was beaten to death by cow smugglers in 1979 when he stopped a truck and fought with its occupants who were smuggling cows for slaughter.
The Muslim Rashtriya Manch, an all India organisation of Muslims, demanded not only a country-wide ban on cow slaughter but also enactment of a Central law in this regard, at its Raipur conference in 2014.
A recent article in the Saudi Gazette states that some people wrongly believe that it’s a Sunnah, which should be followed by every Muslim.
Mohammad sacrificed two heads of sheep while his wives were with him, and he did not sacrifice for every one of them.
A person is supposed to perform worship secretly without publicizing it. But we still see Muslims in hordes doing their Namaz on public roads and spaces.
Another misconception related to sacrifice is its repetition every year. Mohammad did not repeat sacrifice every year, even though it was imposed in the second year of migration. He lived 8 years after the imposition of sacrifice but he did not perform sacrifice in all those years.
It is narrated from Abubacker and Omar that they were not performing sacrifices fearing that it would become a Sunnah or a tradition. Hudaifa Al-Ghafari has narrated a Hadith in this respect. Hadith expert Al-Albani has said the people who reported the Hadith were dependable and trustworthy. A similar Hadith has been reported from Abdullah Bin Omar and Bilal.
It has been reported about Omar Bin Khatab and other Companions of Mohammad that they had not sacrificed animals continuously for three to four years. These narratives do not support the phenomenon of sacrificing animals every year. Performance of sacrifice once in life would be sufficient.
So, it means that sacrifice is not a pillar of Islam. Nor is it obligatory during Hajj, its accompanying ‘Id or the ‘Id al-Fitr.
Mir Mosharraf Hossain, a Bengali author known for his seminal work Bishadsindhu, was opposed to it. In his book Gojibon (life of cows) he writes:
“Hindus and Muslims are the two major religious communities in Bengal. They are so close that apart from religious belief their hearts and souls are one—in everyday life they are brothers to each other. In disaster and danger, in sickness and health, in happy times they are always one and the same. …Being in such an intimate relationship, it is ludicrous to hurt our brothers (Hindus). …No one sacrifices cows in Arab. The trajectory of religion is astonishing. Crossing mountains, deserts, rivers, Islam had reached India, and so had the practice of animal sacrifice. We don’t have dumba sheep here but goats, no camels but cows. …Goats can be sacrificed instead of cows. And the practice won’t harm Islam at all. “
Bengali Muslims, however, got furious. Albeit the epic Bishadsindhu constituted a religious masterpiece and kept it alongside the Quran, they branded him a kaffir and atheist.
In the book Animal Welfare in Islam, Al-Hafiz Basheer Ahmad Masri writes that the Mohammad implied “If animals have been subjected to cruelties in their breeding, transport, slaughter, or in their general welfare, meat from them is considered impure and unlawful to eat (Haram).”
Note: All content of this article above has been extracted as it is from the sources/references listed at the end of this article.
This whole process of killing cows to denigrate Hindus was propagated and executed by the Mughals and is still being continued.
So does Mohammad come second to Muslims after Mughals and bigoted politicians?
References:
https://www.dailypioneer.com/2015/columnists/eating-beef-not-an-islamic-ritual.html
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/515440
https://www.islamweb.org/en/fatwa/85490/hadith-addressing-preference-of-white-meat-to-red
https://thewire.in/religion/the-true-meaning-of-qurbani-the-essence-of-sacrifice-seems-forgotten
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/islamic-scholars-dissuade-slaughter-of-cows-on-bakrid/articleshow/70624249.cms
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