Muzaffer Hussain  is a Padmashri, an eminent Muslim lawyer, a writer of books like Muslim Manas,  Insight in Minoritism and 12 others. He has won  13 National Awards. His latest book  is Islam and Shakahar ( vegetarianism ) which he has sent me.

Chapter 3 is entitled , the Cow and the Koran. This is the one that interests me the most because all through Rampur , Bareilly, Aonla and Badaun , my constituency and district , cows and bullocks are being killed with a frenzy .They are taken openly in trucks  or walked  to a  slaughterhouses in Bareilly and one in Sahaswan, Badaun. Thousands are killed every day in the most brutal conditions. I have caught many trucks during my election and everyone in my constituency has been told that this will no longer be tolerated. The police of Faridpur get a weekly bribe from the butchers and a large number of policemen spread across Aonla, Aliganj. The centre of the killing is a village called Bhagvantapur in Faridpur but no policeman dares enter it because the last one  who did so was beaten and hospitalized.

According to Hussain there is not a single sura( chapter) in the holy Koran that allows any killing of cows or bulls. On the other hand there are instructions on what human being should eat . While instructing Adam, "Allah had said " While your wife and you lived in the paradise, I had given you fruits to eat. And now, wherever you liveI will provide fruits for you."(2.35) There are four verses which specify fruits for man and promise him fruits in paradise.

The famous Iranian Islamic philosopher and scholar Alghazali ( 1058-1111 A.D) who established the Islamic Academy of Baghdad says in his book Ahya ul Deen ( Revival of Religious Science) : "The meat from cows beef is an illness(marz), its milk is pure ( safa) which means good for health and its ghee is a medicine. The cow is  like a mother  to all  mankind . Everything  it gives  us is  like a  blessing to all human beings .Just as a mother breast feeds  her  baby, the  cow gives her  milk to the entire  humanity. It has been scientifically proved that  cow milk is good  for the  brain and increases memory  power. A person who is strong in mind will always remember Allah.Therefore cow milk is a  basic need for the development of mankind . It is a  grave sin to  kill such a  useful animal that is like a  mother  herself.

For Non Vegeterians there are other options in the meat .But for the  humanity’s sake , they should sacrifice the very  idea of cow slaughter.It is not only  the moral duty of mankind to protect the cow, but it is the religion of  humanity itself to do so."

The Imam of the London-based mosque Shahjahan, Al Hafiz B S Masri says, the Koran is totally against cruelty to the  cow.In many places in the  holy Koran is  clearly stated that  kindness be shown towards animals and all  living organisms in the world.

In this book " Protection of Animals  in the Islamic world ’’, Al Hafiz Masri writes, it is a matter of shame for the manner in which  Muslims the world  over ,slaughter animals  in the name of religion.

The  holy Koran says, -" You are answerable for the smallest harm you cause to a tiny  bird.One who is  kind to the smallest living  being ,Allah shall ultimately return him the benefit in equal measure  in this world and even beyond it .’’

Those Muslim invaders , who came to India and stayed on to make it their  home and  rule  over it ,understood that the people of India had a special veneration for the cow .Hence as a mark of respect towards their  feelings, the rulers  prohibited the slaughter of cows.

Babar in ‘ Tuzuk-e- Babari’ while making a will in  favour of his son Humayun , says that the people of India  are very religious minded. You should respect their sentiments. They are extremely compassionate towards the cow.

Hence do  not allow the cow to be sacrificed or  killed anywhere in the limits of the Mughal Empire. The day any Mughal emperor ignores this will, the common people or the citizenry shall reject him. " Aurangzeb refuted the will and it did not take long  for his downfall.

In India, there have been many  ‘fatwas’  which came up in the Daar-ul-fatwa of Deoband , Barelvi, Phuleri Shareef, Lucknow and Hyderabad in the matter of cow slaughter. There has always been a common thread amongst all the ‘fatwas’; they were not in favour of cow slaughter.

Because India attaches a lot of religious , social and scientific importance to the cow family ,its population comes into direct  confrontation with  those who destroy  the cow on the  basis of their religion fervour and fundamentalism. The government of India is more  culpable than the Muslims in the matter  of protection of the cow because its lame laws and appeasement of  its vote bank stand as the biggest obstacle in its path.

In 1857, Delhi remained independent for just four months. The brave sons of India dethroned the British Government and proclaimed the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as the  king of Delhi. It seemed to be end of British rule in India. Unfortunately it was not.

During this time, Bahadur Shah Zafar’s efforts at Hindu-Muslim unity were immortalized in history.The proclamation of the Mughal Emperor in honour of the  cow became  an important document in history.The royal decree of 28 July 1857 banning cow slaughter reads as  follows :

" Creation of the Lord ( Khalk Khuda Ka ), in the empire of the emperor , by the order of the supreme commander of the armed forces, whosoever slaughters or sacrifices a cow or a bull ,or a  calf openly or surreptitiously in his house in this festive season of Bakra Idd, shall be considered an enemy of the emperor himself and will be punished by death"

Not only within the Mughal Empire but in every Muslim kingdom and principality, were orders decreed regarding the cow.

Contemporary kings and nawabs  continued  to make royal decrees in this regard and whenever necessary even issued ‘fatwas’ .Islam prohibits  that act which hurts  your neighbour’s  feelings, and that  food  item which when consumed  creates  ill-feeling in those who surround you .Hence it is a common  sentiment that to preserve  communal brotherhood  or  fraternity  India must  legally ban cowslaughter. Islamic scholars of different school of thought  have until now issued 117 ‘fatwas’ appealing to Muslims not to slaughter cows.

Jamiat-ul-ulema president  late Asad Madani had issued a statement requesting  the Muslims not to kill cows on Bakra-Idd.

Muslims have set up Goshalas ( cow-shelters)  in many places .Sufi saints have nurtured cows. In Nagpur one such Muslim saint and his wife used to run a goshala.Tajjuddin Baba was  famous for his devotion to cows. Urdu poets have written poems in the praise of cows. If Raskhan is famous in Hindi for this, then the late poet Mohammad Ismail of Meerut is equally well-known in Urdu. His poetry is recited by students in Urdu schools and they sing in praise of the cow.

Please stop this illegal killing in Bareilly , Aonla and Badaun voluntarily .