Animals, Do they have a soul? What makes them different?
- Islamic viewpoint on this
controversial subject

A member of ITG searched the internet for any references to this subject matter only to find very little, next to nothing! This article is an attempt to answer this controversial question and highlights some important facts.

What happens to
animals when they die?

Recently, the death of my cat really made my bones tremble, when death had overtaken a much loved pet (animal). I began to think about whether my cat or animals in general had souls? After all they do make decisions like humans do, but what makes them
different to humans, I wondered? Hmm.

Well it didn't take me long to consider things from an Islamic viewpoint, I discovered that answering such a question was feasible.

Allah(swt) created everything
When Allah(swt) created all creatures, each one was given a particular life that functioned in a partiicular way. Lets consider a Monkey, not a relative of mankind as theorised by darwin but as a unique creation created by Allah(swt) having a DNA difference of 3% in comparison to humans. NB: 1% is very large when considering DNA strands!

American scientists have taught a monkey to play cards, but the very same monkey cannot play cards with other monkeys without sufficently training them, alternatively the very same monkey if left with other monkeys would not even attempt to teach the other monkeys how to play cards with him. This leads me to the first fact that transgression, i.e the ability to excell beyond the normal in animals is possible locally to a particular animal individually and only taught by humans
- only to be lost over short period of time.

Across the atlantic, British scientists carried out genetic experiments on Salmon in Scotland in the year 2000. They thought that by genetically modifying the fish they could make larger fish and thereby sell the concept that genetic engineering could be the answer to the global problem of dwindling fish stocks or world hunger! The result is as Allah(swt) has made clear in the Qur'an that if mankind where to alter that which Allah(swt) has placed in unique balance the outcome would be a creature that would devour mankind. A stark warning given by Allah(swt) to those who have sense.

What the British scientists had done is genetically modified a batch of salmon and for the first 30 days they grew to extraordinary sizes, suddenly the salmon started to devour one another! The project was stopped by the government and ordered the batch destroyed.

The second fact, by genetically modifying the creation, this would affect, disturb the unique balance that the creator has put in place upon the DNA, thus changing the very nature of the species whereby it degenerates - this applies to all species. Only Allah(swt) knows to what degree.

We have Genetically Modified foods circulating in the market, I wonder what affect these foods will have on humans as well as animals when they are consumed? Do you remeber CJD also known as "Mad Cow" disease, and Foot & Mouth? - How did these come about?

Note: GM is a concept that was developed under the pretext as an answer to the rise in population rise but we all know now that it was for the following reasons:

•  South American arable land after decades of  pesticide abuse and spraying caused soil erosion  and  thus the inability to compete in the global  market. GM  would help since less soil nutrients  would be needed for  its cropping and the  period  of time needed from sowing  to eventual  harvesting would be reduced dramatically.This  would allow american rice and other produces to  compete in the world market.
  
•  The African continent has land so arable and  fertile that  most of the land has crops growing on  it that was never  planted by the farmers! The  United States knew for  some time that once the  crude oil had been depleted in  most of the Muslim  world the west would be in a position  with surplus  energy, but the question of dependency  upon the  Muslim world for  food would still exist and had  to be addressed. GM crops was the answer.
  
  By initally selling GM germinating seeds cheap and flooding the market the germinating seeds would:-
  
  (i)  ONLY grow during one season
  (ii) and at a particular climate
  
  - the United States would artificially have implemented a regional monopoly on the growth of the world farm market worldwide!
  
  The net effect would be that the soil would become dependant and would need to adapt and thus only succeed in growing crops from GM seeds. The farmers would be totally depended upon US genetically modified seeds, a perfect way to destroy the soils natural ability to grow crops in harsh environments. The farmers would have no choice but to buy US GM seeds every season and thus throw away any surplus and thereby be depended upon the United States.

Now back to animals.

Animals have a set programmed function

Animals have a set function in life and they carryout that function the best way possible. Now Allah(swt) has created so many animals that you will find that humans individually only get to sample less than 5% of them, i.e., eat less than 5%. Not because we cant (Harram) but because we don't have the practical means to do so. However, saying that some animals have been forbidden for humans to eat and these are either clarified in the Qur'an or the Sunnah of the Prophet(saaw).

A good example is donkeys, at the time of the prophet it was deemed ok to eat donkeys, the Qur'an never forbid it, but the Sunnah clearly mentions that it is not permissible to eat domesticated donkeys. This means that non-domesticated donkeys can be eaten. You will find that in the mainstream of human consumption the donkey is the lest rated, but in comparison the chicken, sheep or lamb is top of the menu list!

Certain animals have been created to be consumed, yet others are not and live alongside mankind inhabiting the earth. At this point I would make mention of the food cycle since it does have relevance here.

Animals have a programmed function known as instincts, the most demanding are (i) survival and (ii) procreation. Survival involves the avoidance of potential threats, and constantly monitoring the stomach. Procreation occurs during set times or when in season. The survival instinct is far the most compelling of the two and an animal will always think about its next meal, for some animals this can be the difference between life and death.

When a cat or dog gives affection does it do this because it voluntarily needs something from you or does it do such an action because it reciprocates love and affection? Owners of cats or dogs may have an emotional viewpoint here, but the underlying fact is that the survival instinct in animals prevails and thus the act of affection is precursor to delivery of food. At this point I would like to say that I loved my cat who sadly past away and really believed that it had real affections towards me, but we are being scientific here and emotions do tend to get in the way.

When a cat dies what happens,
and does a cat have a soul?

Every creation created by Allah(swt) is given a special life energy, this energy is also known as its soul and it is not owned by anyone but Allah(swt), thE soul will return to Allah(swt) after an appointed time. All of Allah(swt) creations has this life energy and this includes cats and all animals. This excludes inanimate objects since Allah(Swt) created those to function differently in relation to animate sentient beings.

Do animals end up in heaven like humans?

Animals are given a specific function and mostly are on the earth to assist mankind. Mankind on the other hand has been instructed by Allah(swt) to be kind to the animals and animals are to be looked after by mankind. When animals die their life energy is returned to Allah(swt), their limited conceptual sentient makeup will not, so my cat will not be meeting me in heaven, however saying that Allah(swt) the Originator of the heavens and earth When He decides on something,
He just says to it, "Be!" and it is.
(Surat al-Baqara: 117)

Allah(swt) only needs to say Be(swt) and it will become.

A cautionary note, by inflicting harm upon any animal this act would be punishable by Allah(swt). So be kind to animals and remember that they have a limited function and cannot be like humans.

One final note, the fictional character lutenant commandar Data of Star trek theme does not have a soul, its closest relative is the toaster!

End.

ITG

Endnotes

1. May Allah(Swt) forgive me for any in-accuracies made in this article. Also, readers are welcome to forward their thoughts on this subject below.
   
2. This article is a tribute to my loving cat Pena.
   
3. A very good cat website.