Plant-Based Eating & Islam
How Islam Promotes Sustainable Eating
By: Hadeel Abbas
Collaborators + Editors: Memona Hossain, Naz Qureshi and Zainab Gilani
Introduction
In Islam, it is our duty to care for our planet by being merciful to all of Allah’s creations.
“تَحَفَّظُوْا مِنَ الأرْضِ فَاِنَّهَا أُمُّكُمْ، وَاِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَحَدٍ عَامِلٍ عَلَيْها خَيْراً أَو شَرّاً اِلا وَ هِيَ مُخْبِرَةٌ بِهِ”
“Safeguard the earth, for it is your mother who will report (to God) the good or evil anyone does on it.”
(Nahj-al-Fasahah, 40 Green Hadith)
As Muslims, when we look at plant-based eating it might be surprising to know that many of the currently popularized health, social and environmental benefits are founded in Islamic Principles. In this article, we will discuss plant-based eating with a focus on agricultural systems in the Western world, the general implications of this diet and how it relates to Islam. This article will only discuss the diet of plant-based eating, However, to learn more about veganism in relation to Islam read our previous two blogs of our series ‘Ethical and Sustainable Living in Islam’
What is Plant-based Eating?
Plant-based eating consists of predominantly non-animal based foods (e.g., fruits, vegetables, whole grains). This ranges from eating no animal products to eating little to moderate amounts in their diet. The goal is to reduce as much animal products (meat, dairy) as possible while replacing them with nutritious plant-based foods.
Although plant-based eating is often confused with veganism, a person who has a plant-based diet is not necessarily vegan.
Why the craze about Plant-based Eating? The benefits explained.
Many Muslims and non-Muslims alike, choose to mainly eat plant-based due to the environmental, social and health benefits that come with a plant-based diet.
The Environment
Adopting a plant-based diet has many positive environmental impacts since animal agriculture has a large carbon footprint and is land and water intensive, meaning that these resources are depleted quickly in large quantities. Animal agriculture is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gases, after fossil fuels and makes up 44% of worldwide methane emissions (Gerber et al, 2003). The climate crisis requires changes from every sector and industry, and this includes a need to rethink our current food systems.
Animal agriculture contributes to climate change, from digestive processes of animals that releases methane, the release of stored carbon from forests due to land-use change and the fossil fuel production that used to create fertilisers for animal feed. Although fertilisers and land-use change is also required for plant-based foods, animal agriculture makes up 75–80% of total agricultural emissions (Tubiello et al. 2013)
“Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from vegan and vegetarian diets are approximately 50% and 35% lower, respectively, than most current omnivore diets” (Sabate and Fresan 2019).
A reduction in animal products globally has also been found to save water resources in an amount equivalent to what is required to feed 1.8 million more people annually (Jalava et al. 2014). This is because animals, especially in large-scale production, require lots of feed which increases the land exploited and water used for agriculture, solely to feed these animals. A third of the total worldwide grain production is used only to feed livestock that sustains humans. While for plant-based foods the amount of land for crops is significantly reduced as the plants are directly used for human consumption.
Society
Someone may choose to adopt plant-based diets because of the human and animal rights violations as well as the environmental injustices caused by factory farms. By witnessing the horrid conditions of animal treatment in these farms, some workers experience stress and trauma at their workplace resulting in long-term mental health problems. In addition, many of these workers are undocumented, low-income or people of colour and work in dangerous conditions to provide for their familites.
Environmental racism is also a large problem with animal factory farmers in the U.S as the communities that live near these operations are racialized and low-income. Landfills, incenterators and other waste facilities that pose serious health effects are located near these communities. They are also faced with the risk of drinking water being contaminated with toxic chemicals and antibiotics because the waste could leak into the groundwater.
Others choose a plant-based diet as a way to prevent future pandemics through their consumption choices, as the unsanitary conditions in factory farms have been found to be a breeding ground for new zoonotic diseases. This is because the high density of animals in these farms virus transmission increased and it has the potential to spread to humans.
Health
In general, studies have shown that adopting a plant-based, specifically a meat-free diet, comes with many health-benefits. This is because over-consumption of meat is associated with excessive fat content resulting in a higher risk of chronic diseases. Red meat further increases the risk of developing health problems and can pre-dispose an individual to certain types of cancer.
“Vegetarians have lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, obesity, coronary heart diseases, and other noncommunicable diseases, and greater life expectancy” (Sabate and Fresan 2019).
Although plant based foods have been scientifically studied to be overwhelmingly better for people and the planet. Just like with any food source, there could be other unintended consequences of the product’s supply chain. For example, some vegan food companies have been found to use forced labour and don’t pay their migrant workers. We must be conscious consumers and look at the other environmental impacts of our food. Just as the Prophet (PBUH) advised us, we have to be aware of these social and environmental injustices that occur and avoid these foods, to the best of our ability.
The Prophet (ﷺ) once said, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” (Hadith 34, Hadith an-Nawawi)
How does all of this tie to Islam?
A guiding principle in Islam is that meat production should not harm the community, national interests, or the environment. The Prophet (PBUH) reportedly ate meat occasionally and treated it like a luxury not a necessity. The sahabah of the Prophet, Umar Radiallahuanu, prohibited people from eating meat extensively and stayed away from meat and dairy during times of famine, drought and war due to how resource intensive it was.
“Umar ibn al-Khattab once said, Beware of meat. It has addictiveness like the addictiveness of wine.”
Umar ibn al-Khattab saw Jabir ibn Abdullah carrying some meat. He said, “What is this?”
He said, “Amir al- muminin. We desired meat and I bought some meat for a dirham.”
Umar said, “Does one of you want to fill his belly apart from his neighbour or nephew? How can you overlook this ayat? ‘You squandered your good things in the life of this world and sought comfort in them.’ (Quran 46: 20)”.
(Book 49, Hadith 36)
“For example, technically horses and donkeys are halal forms of meat, but the Holy Prophet (sa) forbade eating them. This is because these animals served as essential modes of transport, travel and warfare.” (Mahmood et al. 2020)
The Islamic perspective on food consumption states that Muslims should eat pure and wholesome foods that benefit our physical and mental health. A core concept is the moral implications of food and that food should come from permissible sources from production to consumption.
‘Oh Messengers, eat of the things that are pure, and do good works…’ (Quran 23: 52)
Muslims are also allowed to exercise their individual judgement when deciding what and how much to consume, even for permissible food. Islam promotes moderation and strongly discourages overconsumption of any type of food. Specifically, the Prophet (pbuh) advised that we should eat *tayyab meat in small quantities. Islamic teaching encourage Muslim’s to consume in moderation and to adopt the middle path. Allah has created both plant-based and non-plant-based foods for the benefit of humans.
*Tayyab, translates to pure and wholesome, and is an important principle of meat consumption in Islam. It states that animals should be treated with compassion from birth to sacrifice.
The Holy Qur’an says, ‘eat and drink, but do not be immoderate’ (Quran 2: 144)
Allah taught us to be stewards of the earth and to nurture our bodies with wholesome food. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) advised to respect and be merciful to each other and to Allah’s creations, which includes plants and animals. Many scientific studies have proven that the overconsumption of meat and animal products is detrimental to the health of the planet and ourselves, which connects to teachings within the Quran and Hadith.
“…Eat and drink from the provision of Allah, and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption” (Quran 2:60)
Note: We are a group of BIPOC Muslims interested in the intersections between environmental justice and Islam. We are by no means Islamic scholars or academics and the information provided in this article came from the following sources.
Sources
What is Plant-based Eating. https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/heart-health-education/what-is-plant-based-eating
Factory Farming and Environmental Racism. https://ffacoalition.org/articles/environmental-racism-factory-farming/
Is it Time more Muslims Turned to Veganism. https://www.khaleafa.com/khaleafacom/is-it-time-more-muslims-turned-to-veganism
Is Meat Consumption essential for a healthy diet? An Islamic perspective. https://www.reviewofreligions.org/23928/veganism-vegetarianism-meat-consumption-islamic-perspective/
The information on the benefits of plant-based eating came from the following peer-reviewed research articles:
Tackling Climate Change through Livestock: An assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3437e/i3437e.pdf
The FAOSTAT database of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015009
Diet change — a solution to reduce water use? https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/074016/meta
Vegetarian Diets: Planetary Health and Its Alignment with Human Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6855976/
The effects of meat consumption on global health. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30209430/
Zoonosis emergence linked to agricultural intensification and environmental change. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3666729/
