Animal Protection Theory in U.S. and Islamic Law: A Comparative Analysis with a Human Rights Twist

Abstract

From Indonesia to the United Arab Emirates, from Turkey to Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia, from Egypt to Malaysia to Qatar, nascent animal welfare movements have recently emerged in geographically diverse Muslim-majority societies, culminating in litigation in some instances and calls for legal reform in others.

While Islamic legal precepts are often erroneously characterized as conflicting with Western legal ideals, this article highlights their compability vis-à-vis a descriptive, comparative and normative analysis of animal protection theory in both U.S. and Islamic legal theory.

Moreover, the article argues that the Islamic legal duty to respect, protect and care for nonhuman animals in fact helps underscore the heightened legal duty to fellow human beings. To that end, it discusses the human rights implications of animal protection theory in Islamic law in relation to chronic maladies in some Muslim-majority societies, such as the unlawful deprivation of life, violence against women, children and religious minorities and mistreatment of the disabled. This insight represents a more expansive and necessary gleaning of the Islamic legal principles surrounding animal welfare and protection theory.

Keywords: Human Rights, Islamic Law, Animal Welfare, Animal Protection, Gender Rights, Religious Freedom, Comparative and Foreign Law