Page 198 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger
P. 198
Bigotry:
The Dark Danger
Our Prophet's (pbuh) Love of Animals
Our Prophet (pbuh) Did Away with the Cruel Customs
that Mistreated Animals
The ignorance in society when our Prophet (pbuh) began
preaching was also reflected in people's treatment of animals; they
would use live animals as targets for archery practice, and cut off
ears and tails and even brand them to distinguish their animals from
those of other people. When they were hungry out in the desert, they
would slice open a camel's hump, extract a piece of fat from it and
then stitch it up again.
Our Prophet (pbuh) completely did away with these unpleasant
customs of the society of ignorance. He taught that animals also
deserved compassion. All practices that mistreated animals were put
to an end to by our Prophet (pbuh).
Our Prophet (pbuh) Forbade
Animals from Being Overworked
Our Prophet (pbuh) forbade the
overworking of animals. Addresses
and poetic ceremonies performed
with people facing one another sit-
ting on the backs of animals for sev-
eral hours, which had been going
on for hundreds of years, were for-
bidden. Owners were only allowed
to ride animals for so long as they
truly needed. Our Prophet (pbuh)
issued a warning, saying;
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