Other issues-SL Muslims at

the cross roads 21

By Izeth Hussain-October 17, 2014, 8:30 pm
(Continued)
I must insist on the importance of the fact that in
Islamic animal sacrifice none of the meat is meant to go waste. This
follows from the fact that Islam places a high value on reverence for life
including non-human life which is why hunting for pleasure is for!idden "
something that perhaps had to !e e#pected in a religion that arose in a
desert environment where non-human life was very scarce. Conse$uently
even the wealthiest %uslims in &ri 'an(a and elsewhere have a deep
aversion to throwing away food which is e$uivalent to throwing away life.
That is evidently why " as I have !een informed !y a reader " the &audi
)overnment processes the huge amount of e#cess meat left after the
Bairam festival and e#ports it to other countries free of charge for
distri!ution to the poor.
There is nothing a!solutely nothing in Islamic animal sacrifice that can !e
regarded as morally reprehensi!le according to the highest standards of
the most advanced civilisations in the world. The late much revered mon(
the *en. &oma Thera wrote in the &unday Times " if my memory serves
correctly " that though (illing is for!idden in Buddhism it could !e allowed
in some cases for instance those who practice animal sacrifice. He was an
erudite mon( !ut he was not erudite on Islam. However there certainly
are malpractices in the cattle trade that have !een crying out for correction
for decades. The argument that the use of the stun-gun is a humane way
of (illing cattle while the Islamic way of slitting the throat is inhuman and
!ar!aric is I thin( an e#pression of +estern Islamopho!ia which has come
to !e parroted !y &ri 'an(ans. , foreigner tells me that in ancient )reece
and -ome where the condemned to death were allowed to choose the
method of e#ecution they " li(e &ocrates " invaria!ly chose to slit their
wrists. There is not a single instance of anyone choosing to !e dispatched
into the ne#t world with a !rutal !ang on the head. ,nyway I am told that
there is now a method of ma(ing cattle insensitive to pain and then slitting
the throat which would !e fully consistent with Islamic re$uirements. If
so it is up to the )overnment to impose that method !y law.
'i(ewise it is up to the )overnment to ta(e corrective measures against
well-(nown malpractices such as the inhuman crowding of cattle into
truc(s for transportation and their !eing starved for days !efore slaughter.
&uch malpractices were never an integral part of the cattle trade " the
British colonial power would never have tolerated them " until after ./00.
, friend from ,(urana a center of the cattle trade tells me that such
malpractices !ecame more or less the norm only after the late %inister
,.C.&. Hameed used to intervene to prevent the police ta(ing punitive
action. The continuity of the malpractices can !e seen as part of the
general !rea(down of law and order. However what is important for the
purposes of this article is that such malpractices are $uite definitely
unIslamic as can !e shown from Islamic te#ts. The point I want to
emphasize is that those responsi!le for the malpractices constitute an
infinitesimal fraction of our %uslim population not the generality of the
%uslims. Therefore our Buddhists should !lame the )overnment not the
%uslims for failing to ta(e effective action to stop those unIslamic
malpractices.
It will help in sorting out the irritant of cattle slaughter in &inhalese-%uslim
relations if there is recognition on the &inhalese side that there has !een
!latant hypocrisy a!out it. Buddhism for!ids (illing !ut it gives no
sacrosanct place to cattle so that it !ecomes difficult to understand why
the agitation has !een only against cattle slaughter and not the slaughter
of marine life and chic(ens. , fish ta(en out of water dies in agony in a
process compara!le to that of humans !eing drowned !ut we have always
had a %inistry of 1isheries. Broiler chic(ens are su!2ected to horri!le
confinement right through their lives !ut there has !een no agitation to
stop their consumption. 3igs are first !rutally clu!!ed and (illed after red-
hot po(ers are introduced into them. But there has !een no agitation to
stop the (illing of pigs through a horrifying process of torture. Two
$uestions arise4 Has the agitation !een confined to cattle slaughter
!ecause the cattle trade has !een a virtual monopoly of the %uslims5 The
second $uestion4 Is there not hypocrisy and racism !ehind that agitation5
I am prepared to respect Buddhist sentiments a!out (illing particularly on
the part of Buddhists who are vegetarians. But there should !e recognition
of the fact that love of animals can go together with inhumanity towards
human !eings. The !est (nown case was that of Himmler who was
responsi!le for the organization and running of the death camps to
e#terminate the 6ews. He used to sometimes ta(e time off from his official
duties to watch the (illings ta(e place. ,nd yet right through his life he
had a passionate love of animals the sincerity of which was never dou!ted
!y any one. I must add that he was well-versed in Hindu and Buddhist
scriptures.
It is (nown in fact that many of the 7azi leaders inhuman though they
were to the point of !eing su!human were passionately fond of dogs. In
one of Bunuel8s films the ,m!assador in 3aris of a 'atin ,merican
dictatorship is told that a former 7azi had !een apprehended in his capital
city. He remar(s 9I can assure you that he is a perfect gentleman9 and a
female voice is heard as(ing " in a delightful satirical thrust - 9Is he fond
of children dogs and %ozart59 &ome of the 7azi leaders may have had a
humane side. &o while respecting genuine Buddhist sentiments we have
nevertheless to as( what there might !e !ehind supposed humane
concerns over cattle slaughter. In any case what has to !e done to remove
that irritant is $uite straightforward. The )overnment should ta(e steps to
compel humane methods of slaughter and to end the malpractices that
have grown in the cattle trade. If the Buddhists want to stop cattle
slaughter altogether it is something that they should ta(e up with the
)overnment. It should not !e allowed to pre2udice &inhalese-%uslim
relations.
In my last article I wrote that I would ma(e a few o!servations on two
issues which could have more serious conse$uences than most of the
others. ,part from cattle slaughter the other is the perception that the
%uslims are inordinately wealthy. This perception was particularly rampant
some decades ago when under the command economy no one seemed to
!e a!le to ma(e !ig money e#cept gem merchants most of whom were
%uslims. :!viously that had to !e a misperception after the mar(et
economy got going in post-./00 &ri 'an(a and very pro!a!ly it was
always a misperception. I recall that when in the first half of the ;nineties I
prepared a paper on the &' %uslims for pu!lication !y the +estern
,ustralian <niversity I had recourse to a %arga Institute study which
esta!lished with copious statistics that none of our ethnic groups was
!etter off economically than any of the others. I have found that it is no
longer possi!le to esta!lish from official statistics the relative economic
position of our ethnic groups. However the notion of inordinate %uslim
wealth continues as shown for instance !y the charge made during the
*en +irathu8s visit that &ri 'an(a8s commerce is under %uslim control.
+e need not attach much importance to what are o!vious misperceptions.
But one fact has a possi!le incendiary potential for the future. +hen
swa!asha was introduced decades ago &inhalese and Tamil children were
taught in their languages while the %uslims could opt for =nglish and that
for o!vious reasons conferred significant advantages on the %uslims. That
did not seem to matter during the ;fifties and8 si#ties when the %uslims
were still educationally !ac(ward and remained !asically a trading
community outside the =astern 3rovince where they were predominantly
agricultural. But now they are competing with the &inhalese and the Tamils
in every field and their competence in =nglish is seen to confer on them a
decisive and also an unfair advantage. This advantage is not due to any
devilry on the part of the %uslims !ut is the conse$uence of the short-
sightedness of &inhalese politicians in imposing &wa!asha. The fact
remains that it is o!2ectively an advantage and there could arise a case for
removing that advantage through what is called positive discrimination or
affirmative action. The case will however have to depend on relia!le
statistics showing that the %uslims have an over-all advantage and not
2ust in this or that field. It should not !e a serious pro!lem !ut I am
uneasy !ecause of an indu!ita!le fact4 we &ri 'an(ans have shown a
genius " immensely impressive !y international standards " for muc(ing
and wrec(ing our ethnic relations.
izethhussain>gmail.com
(Continued)
Posted by Thavam