With the changing times, as more and more people question the way of praying and the “appeasement” of deities prescribed by our ancestors, the customs relating to the indiscriminate usage of animals and animal sacrifice has come under the radar on multiple occasions.

Even this year, as recently as the month of May 2023, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the amendments made by the legislatures of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka to The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, allowing (giving a go-ahead) for bull-taming sports like Jallikattu, Kambala, and bullock-cart races. [The case was the Animal Welfare Board of India And Ors. v. UoI And Anr. {WP(C) No. 23/2016}].

During the hearings, it had been arguments that the amendments protect the sport, Jallikattu, by claiming that the bull-taming sport is a “cultural heritage” of the states and is protected under Article 29 (1) of the Constitution.

While the Bench led by Justice KM Joseph ruled that the amendments, made in 2017 were “valid legislations”, it said that the continuance of Jallikattu was “debatable”, and must ultimately be decided by the Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People. Making this decision requires social and cultural analysis in greater detail, said the Court and such an exercise “cannot be undertaken by the judiciary”, the Bench had further said. Notably, the five-judge Bench overruled the view taken by a two-judge Bench of the court in its 2014 ruling in ‘Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja’, banning such sports including Jallikattu.

Therefore, it came be deduced that when it comes to customs, even the highest court of the land has had to tread a thin line, ensuring that they are balancing the requirements of a particular religion/sect/state along with the welfare of the society. It is also the court’s duty to ensure that the said act does not subject the animal to unnecessary cruelty, as even animals have been provided certain rights under our law.

Protection to animal sacrifice under Article 25

To ensure that people have the right to follow the customs defined under their religion without any interference, the lawmakers included Article 25 in the Constitution of India, which guarantees freedom of religion to all persons in India. It provides that all persons in India are equally entitled to freedom of conscience, and have the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion, however it shall be subjected to public order, morality, health, and other provisions. Thus, within our Constitution, a fundamental right has been provided to every individual to follow their religion and their customs as required.

In Sardar Syedna Saheb v. State of Bombay, the Supreme Court had held that a person is not liable to answer for their religious views, and cannot be questioned regarding personal religious beliefs by the government or by anybody else. However, the person does not have the absolute right to act in any way he/she wants in the practise of religious beliefs.

The government has the regulating power to make laws “in the interest of public order” etc. restricting religious practices. For example, there may be religious practices involving a sacrifice of animals in a way that is harmful to the well-being of the public at large. The Court said that the government can interfere to restrict or regulate such practices, even to the extent of completely stopping such practices.

The practice of animal sacrifice, by both Muslims and Hindus, have been questioned too, many a times.

In Commissioner of Police v. Acharya Jagadishwarananda, the Supreme Court stated that the protection of religion under Article 25 includes protection for religious rituals, ceremonies and modes of worship which are a part of religion. However, a religious practice is considered to be part of a religion only if the practice is found to be an essential and integral part of religion. The Court said that only those practices which are essential and integral to a religion are protected as religious rights.

So, in order to be protected as a religious right, animal sacrifices will have to be considered by the Court as an “essential religious practice” with reference to a particular religion. This may be decided by the Court after looking into the doctrine of the particular religion, what the community regards as essential to the religion, and other evidence.

In the matter of Javed v. State of Haryana, the Supreme Court acknowledged that sacrifice of animals on Eid-al-Azha is an essential part of the religion of Muslims and is protected by Article 25 of the Constitution of India.

Moreover, even in Section 28 of the PCA act, an exception was carved out which said that nothing contained in the Act shall render it an offence to kill any animal in a manner required by the religion of any community.

The practice of Bakri-Eid, and the jurisprudence around it

Eid-al-Azha, a festival observed by the Muslim community, is one such festival where animal sacrifice is performed. It is well known that the said animal sacrifice takes place following the Abrahamic tradition that is common to both the Quran and the Old Testament where Ibrahim (Abraham) has a vision that he is to sacrifice his own son. Abraham unquestioningly follows the command of God and takes his son to the place of slaughter. Just as Abraham is about to slit his son’s throat, God speaks to him and tells him that he has fulfilled his vision. God replaces the son with a male sheep which Abraham proceeds to sacrifice. God is pleased with Abraham’s unquestioning adherence to His command and so bestows His blessings on Abraham and promises to grant his descendants glory and multiply them throughout the earth.

Almost every year, a debate gets started around the said customary practice of animal sacrifice. Petitions on the same have also been filed in the Court, and both the times the Court has refused to get into the issue of animal sacrilege on Bakri Eid, while clarifying that the said practice should be performed in a way that it does not harm the public.

1. Hifzur Rahman Choudhury vs. The Union Of India And 5 Ors, PIL/49/2022

In the month of July, last year, the Gauhati High Court had pronounced a judgment clarifying that the slaughter of animals on the occasion of Bakri-Eid is permissible, subject to the prohibitions contained in various statutes including the Prevention of Cruelty Animal Act, 1960, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021.

A bench comprising Justices Manash Ranjan Pathak and Manish Choudhury upheld two communications dated June 7 and July 4, issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Assam government respectively, specifying that camels cannot be slaughtered for food at all and wherever the Cow Slaughter Prohibition Act is in force, then slaughtering of cows should not be allowed at all.

The development came on a PIL filed by one Hifzur Rahman Choudhury, challenging the above-mentioned two communications on the ground that those are in violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the Assam Cattle Prevention Act, 2021. Choudhury also contended that AWBI has no such power, jurisdiction, and authority to issue any such communications to the State Government regarding stopping of sacrifice of animals on the occasion of Bakri Eid or any other religious festivals of the country.

2. Varaaki v. Union of India and others, Writ Petition (C) No. 689 of 2015, decided on 28th September, 2016

In the year 2015, a public interest litigation petition was filed by journalist Varaaki which contended that “religion cannot be allowed to become a tool for perpetuating untold miseries on animals.” The petition had further contended that “faith, religion, customs and practices should not take precedence over lawful rights, human or animal.” This being true for all religious communities, whether it be “Durga pooja, the slaughter of lambs for Easter, turkeys for Thanksgiving or goats for Bakrid,” the petition said. Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran and advocate Sriram Parakkat were arguing on the behalf of the petitioners.

The Supreme Court of India had refused to interfere with religious practices and said the judiciary could not stop centuries-old traditions of sacrificing animals by different communities. The bench comprising of the then Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy had stated that “The balance and harmony of all faiths, this court is bound to it. This, your petition, makes generalised statements on a very, very sensitive matter. We have to close our eyes to centuries and centuries-old traditions.”

The then Chief Justice then pointed to Section 28 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and observed that it was not an offence to kill an animal in a manner required by the religion of any community. Referring to the same, Justice Amitava Roy had further observed “Nothing in this Section prevents a person from killing animals as part of his tradition.”

 Customs in the modern world

The Courts have, time and again, maintained their stance of non-interference with customs of animal sacrifice being followed by believers of different faiths, devotees of Hinduism during the festival of Durga Pooja and devotees of the Islam Faith during Bakri-Eid, etc. The Court can only guarantee that a balance is struck between the customs being observed and the harm caused to the animal, the environment, or the general public. The Court has maintained their refusal to delve into the core of any such customs.

However, it is critical that devotees and believers themselves, in today’s world, question the myths and superstitions associated with the practice of animal sacrifices, and wonder whether the said practice should be considered relevant now, because sacrificing animals in the name of custom, rituals, and offering them cannot be considered the most ideal.

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EVERY year millions of heads of sheep are sacrificed during the Eid Al-Adha festival. Such a huge number of sheep would not have been slaughtered for sacrifice if people had been given correct information about this ritual. A lot of money is wasted on sacrifice by people, who lack proper religious knowledge.

Some people wrongly believe that it’s a Sunnah, which should be followed by every Muslim. This is a mistake because this animal sacrifice is required only from cattle owners who rear animals and do business with it, and others are not required to do the ritual.

The Holy Qur’an says: “That they may witness things that are of benefit to them and mention the name of Allah on appointed days over the beast of cattle that He hath bestowed upon them. (Al-Haj: 28)

The word “bestowed upon them” was used in this verse with a purpose and not without any meaning. A person should have purchased an animal to say that he has possessed one. Bestowed here means actual possession of the animal not its possibility.

This Qura’nic verse was revealed in the context of making sacrifice as a kaffara or expiation for performing the tamattu form of Haj. We should know that the Qur’an will not use any word without any meaning and it’s better to have a new meaning for a word than it becoming redundant.

I believe that the word rizq used in this verse to denote what has been possessed personally and not to indicate general blessings like rain. God will not ask us to give charity or do sacrifice from the general blessings. But if they possess part of them like honey, milk, fruits and fish, etc. they would be asked to pay charity to get closer to Allah. People are instructed to give charity from these agricultural products for possessing them.

The Hadith that “those who had the ability to perform sacrifice and did not do that should not approach our (Eid) prayer places” is applied on those having cattle, not money.

Performing sacrifice for the dead is another mistake, even if it was mentioned in the will as there is no evidence for doing it by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions. We know that the Prophet did not perform sacrifice for his uncle Hamza and wife Khadeeja.

Prophet’s wives did not perform sacrifice for the Prophet after his death. Aysha and Asma did not perform sacrifice for their father Abubacker Al-Siddique after his death. Abdullah Bin Omar and his sister Hafsa did not perform sacrifice for the goodness of their father Omar Bin Khattab. If an act of worship is considered makrooh or disapproved in Islam it will remain disapproved even if it was mentioned in the will of a dead person.

Another common mistake is to sacrifice cattle for every member of the family. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sacrificed two heads of sheep while his wives were with him, and he did not sacrifice for every one of them. How can someone sacrifice animals for his wife and children, who live with him in a single house, and boast about the number of sacrifices made? This is mere hypocrisy because a person is supposed to perform worship secretly without publicizing it. Some people may narrate certain stories in order to tell people he performed the prayer in the mosque.

The fourth misconception related to sacrifice is its repetition every year. The Prophet 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. Famous scholar 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 the Prophet 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.

This article was first published in saudigazette.com.sa and may be read here

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Eid ul Adha, also known as Bakrid is celebrated on the tenth day of one of the most sacred months of Islamic calendar. On this day a male goat is usually sacrificed as per the popular legend that Prophet Ibrahim had gotten ready to sacrifice his only son for Allah after he had a dream about it. Moved by his devotion, Allah sent angels to place a goat in place of the Prophet’s son.

But like every year, this year as well, some elements have tried to dampen the spirit of this festival by trying to promote ill will against the Muslim community in India. A couple of days ago, Nand Kishore Gurjar, BJP MLA from Loni Assembly of Ghaziabad Uttar Pradesh, invited controversy by saying, “People who want to sacrifice (animals) on Eid should sacrifice their children.” He further resorted to misinformation as well by saying that meat spread coronavirus and hence “people should not be allowed to sacrifice animals”.

He further said, “I will not let people consume meat and alcohol in Loni,” while adding that even Sanatan Dharma used to sacrifice animals but now that has been replaced with coconuts.

Last year as well, around Eid Ul Adha, there was an attempt to discourage animal sacrifice and there was a growing sentiment of insecurity, which has expectedly augmented this year. Last year Karnataka legislators had asked to increase security around the time of Bakrid when animals would be transported, to avoid any violent incidents against the Muslim community as incidents of mob lynchings by cow vigilantes were on the rise.

This year, in the wake of Covid-19, social gatherings are prohibited and offering namaz by gathering in mosques is also not permitted. State governments have urged people to offer namaz at home and carry on celebrations at home. While similar protocols were in place during Ramzan Eid earlier this year and Muslim community had by and large, followed the same, some elements are now using divisive tactics by showing animal sacrifice in poor light and dampening the spirits of the festival.

Another instance is a video being circulated by the IT team of Saint Rampal who is himself currently serving a life sentence in Hisar prison since 2018 after being convicted of murder. In the video, the message that animal sacrifice is in fact against the principles of Qur’an is being propagated.

Further in the video, there is a footage of Rampal, who is a Hindu religious leader and self-proclaimed spiritual successor of Saint Kabir, preaching on Islam, its teachings and things that are “haram” especially animal sacrifice. Clearly, the intention is to turn people against the practice of animal sacrifice which is a religious tradition in Islam and to imbibe disdain against Muslims who despite this preaching perform animal sacrifice.

Further, earlier in July, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights organization had put up controversial hoardings promoting vegetarianism. These posters which were put up across Lucknow invited the ire of many Muslim religious and social activists who approached the City Police Commissioner to have them removed. The Poster had a picture of a goat which read, “Mai Jeev Hoon, Maans Nahi. Hamare prati Nazariya Badlein, Vegan Bane’(I am a living being, not just meat. Change your view towards us and become strict vegetarian)”. The Hoardings were eventually taken down by the police foreseeing a law and order situation. PETA India, about a week ago, also wrote to the police chiefs of all Indian states seeking a ban on animal slaughter stating that, “all religions call for compassion — none requires killing or eating animals, and hacking them to death with weapons is just plain cruel.”

The truth remains that a majority of Indians consume non-vegetarian food which includes a large number of Hindus. Naturally, animals are slaughtered throughout the year for human consumption in India but it is only during Eid ul Adha that “animal sacrifice” becomes controversial. The intolerance towards killing of goats only around the time of Eid ul Adha or Bakrid shows the contempt of certain right wing elements towards Islamic culture and tradition and lays out their hypocrisy and intolerance for all to see.

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