On history of beef-eating in Islamic traditions

Raziuddin Aquil 

Vegetarianism as an aggressive political ideology can recommend killing a human being in the name of protecting a cow. Emotions can be easily whipped up over the historically contested issue of cow-slaughter for some quick political gains. The saving grace for Muslims is that beef-eating is not a fundamental principle of their religion. Sectarian differences apart, the foundational doctrines of Islam are about the notion of unity of God (Allah), recognition of Muhammad as the last of the prophets (following a series of middle-eastern messengers of God such as Jesus and Moses, culminating into a distant past of Abraham) and belief in the Day of Judgement, with heaven and hell waiting to receive the pious and the sinner, respectively. A simple way of life on the righteous path of God would involve performing prayers (salat or namaz), keeping fast in the Hijri month of Ramzan, giving taxes (zakat) and, for those who can afford, a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). Besides, there are a few things recommended either as permissible (halal) or forbidden (haram), conditions apply. Eating meat of cow slaughtered in the name of Allah is halal; consuming pork under any condition will be treated as haram.

Cheap and easy availability of beef has meant it became a part of a staple diet for Muslims in India since medieval times, and questions began to be raised about it by sections of non-Muslim population, with a newly-found fad for vegetarianism, especially in north India, which is also referred to as the cow-belt. Muslim Sufis have long understood the tensions involved in this food preference of common Muslims and tended to avoid it. A Sufi text from Sylhet in the Bengal frontier clearly proclaimed, as historian Anuradha Chanda has recently shown, that beef-eating is not a fundamental practice of Islam (goru khawa...Muchhalmani noy). But, rhetorically, a Mughal period Naqshbandi leader who was trying, without success, to impress upon Jahangir to abandon Akbar's inclusive practice of governance had controversially declared that the biggest service to the cause of Islam in India was to slaughter cow. Mercifully, the Mughals were concerned about this issue, as are modern progressive and liberal Muslims, deciding for themselves that if indeed majority non-Muslims worshipped cow as mother it will be a good gesture to avoid eating beef altogether.

In Akbar's famous prayer-hall, ibadat-khana, where a no-holds barred discussion would take place on all kinds of religious issues, a court-jester pointed out that Muslims were doing a wrong thing by killing cows, because even Allah loved them, as the first chapter of the Quran, outlining the fundamental features of Islam, is named as "The Cow" (Arabic: baqra)! Mullah Abdul Qadir Badauni, a self-styled conscience-keeper of Islam, dismissed the jester as a stupid idiot, as the detailed reference in the Quran to the cow, drawing on the Biblical story relating to Prophet Moses, can actually serve as an important weapon for those who thrive on the politics of hatred.

As the Quran mentions, the Israelis were not listening to Moses' call to worship one almighty God alone and, indeed, some of them worshipped calves. Therefore, when Moses eventually advised his followers to abide by God's order for cow-slaughter (wa iz qala musa leqaumehi innallaha yamorokum an tazbahu baqarata), they were intrigued, leading to a fascinating chain of conversation of considerable interest in our own context. The followers told Moses he was perhaps joking with them. The latter retorted that he would rather take refuge in God's protection than speak in an irresponsible manner. Then, the people advised Moses to pray to God on their behalf and check what kind of cows they were being asked to slaughter. The answer was: it shouldn't be too old or too young, of average age, so do what you are ordered to do.

Not to submit so quickly, the followers further asked Moses to find out what was the recommended colour of the cow for slaughter. The response should be taken by modern-day Hindutva protagonists in their stride. Remember, it is an early-8th-century Arabic version of an older Biblical tale, which shouldn't be abused out of context. Still, God says: undoubtedly, the cow with a dark shade of saffron, which attracts the eyes of the connoisseur of tastes (qala innahu yaqulo innaha baqaratun safraao faqe'un launoha tasarrun nazerin). Though still unsure, the followers were getting attracted to the idea of slaughtering such a cow, so they were further told that slaughter only those which were not involved in hard work of ploughing the field and were free from any defects. Eventually, convinced by the clarity of preference, they told Moses that he truly represented the teachings of God and began their practice of cow slaughter, though initially even God was not sure that the Israelis would actually do this (fazabahuha wa ma kadu yaf'alun)!