FROM EPIPHANIUS" BOOK IT is SHOWN that the immediate followers of Jesus, the Judaic Christians, were vegetarians until the fifth century. This was about 100 years after the historical struggle among the three main factions of Christianity of those times: Judaic Christians, Christian Gnostics, and Catholic Christians. According to the evidence presented in The Vegetarianism of Jesus Christby Charles Vaclivik, the Judaic Christians were led for 30 years after Jesus left the physical realm by his brother James. Vaclivik"s historical evidence suggests that the Judaic Christians were the very first Christians. They were the ones who actually walked and prayed with Jesus. After them, the Christian Gnosticism developed, and around A.D. 70 the Catholic Christians began their ascent to power. The Judaic Christians and Gnostics were vegetarian and the Catholic Christians were not. Many early Christian leaders were also vegetarians. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 160-240) wrote, It is far better to be happy than to have our bodies act as graveyards for animals.
St. John Chrysostom (A.D. 345-407) also taught that the unnatural eating of flesh meat was polluting.
Many scholars think that the original Christian doc.u.ments were altered at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 to make them acceptable to the emperor, Constantine. Steve Rosen, in Food for Spirit, points out that flesh-food-eating was not officially permitted until the fourth century, when Emperor Constantine, through his powerful influence, made his version of Christianity the official version for everyone. Vegetarian Christians had to practice in secret or risk being put to death for heresy. Rosen writes that Constantine used to have molten lead poured down their throats if they were captured. By the fourth century, the Catholic Christians became considerably more politically powerful than the other two groups. Most of the literature of the Judaic Christians and Gnostics was essentially destroyed during the political repression of this time period. In The Vegetarianism of Jesus Christ, it is postulated that the translations after this time may have been altered away from a vegetarian menu, as the Catholic Christians did not believe in vegetarianism and/or were not ready for it. If people are surprised that there was more than one Christian faction in the first 100 years after Jesus, it is useful to remember that we now have hundreds of different Christian churches.
Jesus and Animal Sacrifice.
EPIPHANIUS POINTS OUT that the Essenes were not only vegetarians, but also opposed animal sacrifice. It is in this context that one gets a further understanding of why Jesus chased out the money lenders from the Temple and freed the animals who were going to be sacrificed. It was the money lenders who exchanged money so that Jews coming from foreign lands could purchase animals for sacrifice. The teachings of Jesus and the Essenes stood directly against the practice of the other Jewish sects and that of the Romans, who also practiced animal sacrifice. t.i.tus Flavius Clemens, one of the most respected of the early Christian fathers, is quoted in Ethics of Diet by Howard Williams as saying, Sacrifices were invented by men as a pretext for eating flesh.
This seems to be essentially the Essene understanding of the motivation behind sacrifices. According to Ewing, the Essene understanding of diet was based on the commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" and the first dietary commandment of Genesis 1:29, quoted earlier, which gave humanity fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables, grains, and gra.s.ses to eat, but specifically not flesh food. The position of Jesus against animal sacrifice is, of course, consistent with his humaneness, his love for all of G.o.d"s creatures, and his vegetarianism. According to the Hastings Encyclopedia on Religion and Ethics, The Gospel according to the Apostles was used by the Ebionites (viz Nazarenes). Herein is found the "Essene Christ." He denounces sacrifice and the eating of flesh.
Epiphanius quotes Jesus, in his confrontation with the high priest in the Temple after he has chased out the money lenders, I come to abolish sacrifices, and unless you cease sacrifices my anger will not cease from you.
The Gospel of the Hebrews also clarifies that Jesus not only advised against eating our animal friends, but he had come to end blood sacrifices. In Lection XXI, verse 8, preaching to his disciples he says: I am come to end the sacrifices and feasts of blood; and if ye cease not offering and eating of flesh and blood, the wrath of G.o.d shall not cease from you; even as it came to your fathers in the wilderness, who l.u.s.ted for flesh, and they ate to their content, and were filled with rottenness, and the plague consumed them.
Many believe that Jesus ate the lamb of the Pa.s.sover meal and use this as indirect evidence that he did not teach or practice vegetarianism. In The Gospel According to the Hebrews, Lection LXXVI, section 27, which predates the edition of the Gospel used today, Judas is quoted as inciting Caiaphas against Jesus for not eating lamb at the Pa.s.sover: Now Judas Iscariot had gone to the house of Caiaphas and said unto him, Behold he [Jesus] has celebrated the Pa.s.sover within the gates [of Jerusalem], with the Mazza in place of the lamb. I indeed bought a lamb, but he forbade that it should be killed, and lo, the man of whom I bought it is witness.
It is important to remember that the information in the Gospel came from earlier Judaic sources and not vice versa. Changes in translations commonly occur, and this could be one of them. Again, Jesus" refusal to eat the Pa.s.sover lamb is consistent with his role and high spiritual awareness as the great Essene Teacher of the time and also his actions against animal sacrifice in the Temple.
The Vegetarianism of the Disciples.
DR. EWING POINTS OUT THAT THE HIGHLY RESPECTED Church Father Eusebius quotes Hegesippus (about A.D. 160), who said that James, the Disciple and brother of Jesus who became head of the Judaic Christians after Jesus, was a vegetarian who "drank no wine, wore no wool, nor ate any flesh." It was said that he followed this practice from birth. It is likely that all of Jesus" family, including himself, were raised as vegetarian and lived that way as adults. It is also likely that in the light of the overall evidence, all but one of the disciples were vegetarian. Ewing quotes the Clementine Hominies XXII, 6, who also suggests that most of the disciples, if not all, were vegetarian: They followed the Apostles in their custom of daily l.u.s.trations. They refused to partake of flesh or wine, taking as their pattern St. Peter, whose food was bread, olives, and herbs....
Clement of Alexandria, in his book The Instructor, states: Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh.
Peter was also historically known to be vegetarian as well. He was quoted as telling Clement: I live on bread alone, with olives, and seldom even with potherbs.
Peter is also noted to be vegetarian in the Clementine Hominies XII, which dates back to the middle of the second century. Dr. Ewing cites an early Christian doc.u.ment which quotes Peter as saying: The unnatural eating of flesh is as polluting as the heathen worship of devils, with its sacrifices and impure feasts, through partic.i.p.ation in which a man becomes a fellow eater with devils.
In a letter to Trajan, the Roman Emperor, Pliny, the historian and governor of Bithynia (an area where Peter was teaching), describes the early Christian practices: They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error ... binding themselves by a solemn oath never to commit any sin or evil and never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust, after which it was their custom to depart and to meet together to take food, but ordinary and harmless [vegetarian] food.
Dr. Ewing also quotes an early Christian doc.u.ment which presents Thomas as: ... fasting, wearing a single garment, giving what he has to others, and abstaining from the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine.
John the Baptist was another vegetarian. The Gospel of the Hebrews describes his food as: ... wild honey and cakes made with oil and honey.
The word "locust," which is commonly given, is a mistranslation. The Greek word for oil cakes is "enkris" and the Greek word for locust is "akris." This translation of cakes of honey and oil is in keeping with the appearance of the angel, Gabriel, to John the Baptist"s mother, instructing her that John should be raised on honey and b.u.t.ter.
Another major follower of Jesus was Paul. Paul may have been the only major early teacher who was not initially vegetarian. He appears to have become vegetarian a little later in his ministry. In Corinthians 8:13 Paul states: Therefore if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat flesh at all, that I may not make my brother stumble.
According to Dr. Ewing, the well-respected Christian Father, Flavius Clemens, the founder of the Alexandrian School of Christian Theology, wrote in A.D. 190: It is good neither to drink wine nor to eat flesh, as both St. Paul and the Pythagoreans acknowledge, for this is rather characteristic to a beast, and the fumes arising from them (flesh pots) being dense and darken the soul.... For a voice will whisper to him (Paul) saying "Destroy not the work of G.o.d for the sake of food. Whether ye eat or drink do all to the glory of G.o.d."
Vegetarianism of Early Christian Leaders.
AS ALREADY POINTED OUT, many of the early Christians, such as the Judaic Christians, the early Gnostics, the Ebionites, and the Mon-tanists, were vegetarian. Early church fathers, such as Tertullian, St. John Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Benedict, Eusebius, Papias, Cyprian, and Pantaenus, all supported vegetarianism as part of Christianity. It is no accident that these Christian leaders of the time were vegetarians, as they were still influenced by the direct teaching of the first Christians.
One of the great figures of Latin Christianity was Florens Tertullianis, who was born in Carthage about A.D. 155. His spiritual understanding was so profound that he is referred to by the Bishop of Carthage as the "Master." In Ethics of Diet, Tertullianis makes the underlying point on the issue of the vegetarianism of Jesus. He said: How unworthy do you press the example of Christ as having come eating and drinking into the service of your l.u.s.ts: He who p.r.o.nounced not the full, but the hungry and thirsty blessed, who professed His work to be the completion of His father"s will, was wont to abstain- instructing them to labor for that food which lasts to eternal life, and enjoining in their common prayers, pet.i.tion not for flesh food but for bread only
Concluding Points.
THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE from the writings of the early Christian Fathers, the Jewish philosopher Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Gospel According to the Hebrews, The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book One, and evidence from the work of the Catholic historian Epiphanius all indicates that the Essene culture in which Jesus was raised, his family, most if not all of his twelve disciples, and his early Christian followers were vegetarian. The prophecy of his coming in Isaiah 7:14-15 even foretells of him being a vegetarian: 14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel (with us is G.o.d).
15 b.u.t.ter and honey shall He eat, that He may know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
The historical evidence also strongly suggests that Jesus did teach vegetarianism, was a vegetarian, and therefore did not eat flesh food. This is consistent with his teachings of love of all G.o.d"s creatures, his commitment not to kill any life according to the highest understanding of the Law of Moses that "Thou shalt not kill" (man or animal), the original teachings of vegetarianism in Genesis 1:29, and his stand in the Temple against the sacrifice of animals. Jesus taught that compa.s.sion should extend to all of G.o.d"s creatures. He taught a humane way of life and was a shining example of a fully humane human being. To be humane is to be kind, merciful, and not to kill any living creature. The slaughter of animals can in no way be considered humane.
Although there is compelling and strong evidence that Jesus was vegetarian, there is no absolute proof of this. This leaves the door open for readers who do not wish to entertain this understanding to maintain whatever belief system they want. Could, however, a living Son of G.o.d teach anything less or live any way less pure than this?
Contemporary Christian Vegetarians.
MORE RECENTLY WE HAVE THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, whose many members are vegetarian. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was also vegetarian, as was Sylvester Graham, the Presbyterian minister known for the "Graham cracker." What is believed to be the first book on vegetarianism published in the US, Abstinence from Flesh of Animals, was written by William Metcalf, a pastor of the Bible Christian Church of England. Christian monks such as the Trappist, Benedictine, and Carthusian orders, the Universal Christian Gnostic Movement, and the Rosicrucian Fellowship practice a vegetarian diet, although there may be some individual communities that are exceptions. Many Franciscan monks follow a vegetarian diet. Some of this has changed since the 1965 Ec.u.menical Council, which relaxed the regulations concerning flesh-food-eating. In September 1990 at Brown University, Bishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa elegantly stated the meaning of vegetarianism in the context of the promise of world peace and equality for all of G.o.d"s children. To paraphrase him, he said that in G.o.d"s garden, we are all vegetarians. Since vegetarianism was G.o.d"s original plan, although shattered temporarily, it will be again!
The Seventh-Day Adventists, Modern Vegetarian Christians.
IN JUNE 1863, ELLEN WHITE, a devout Christian woman who had been receiving revelations since 1844, began to receive specific revelations pertaining to reforming the health practices in the Adventist movement. This vision in 1863, often referred to as the "Ostego Vision," forms the core of the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) diet and health practices. She claimed to have received her revelations directly from G.o.d. Many of them were said to also come through angelic messengers. The most frequent of these angelic messengers was Gabriel. Her revelations became a tower of guidance for the growth of the Seventh-Day Adventist movement. Vegetarianism, however, was not, and is not, an absolute precondition for joining the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
Mrs. White makes the clear connection between one"s ability to lead a spiritually sensitive, moral, and physically healthy life which enables one to serve G.o.d to one"s highest ability, and the importance of eating a moderate, simple, vegetarian diet. This is also a diet devoid of overindulgence in even too much "healthy" food or stimulating, rich foods. Her teachings did not recommend stimulants like coffee and other drugs which alter spiritual awareness.
She taught that taking care of one"s personal health was a Christian duty. In the 1976 edition of the Seventh-Day Adventist Encyclopedia, it said: SDAs believe that Christians should have a concern for health not because of any ceremonial or legalistic significance, but for the practical reason that only in a sound body can they render the most effective service to G.o.d and to others.... Health is related to religion in that it enables men to have a clear mind with which to understand the will of G.o.d and a strong body with which to do the will of G.o.d.
SDAs believe that at the fall of man all three aspects of mans nature-the physical, the intellectual, and the spiritual-were affected; and that Jesus, who said He had come to restore that which was lost, seeks to save the whole man.
In her book, Counsels on Diet and Foods, section in, Ellen White says: Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables const.i.tute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet.
In section 112 she is even more specific: G.o.d gave our first parents [Adam and Eve] the food He designed that the race should eat. It was contrary to His plan to have the life of any creature taken. There was to be no death in Eden. The fruit of the trees in the garden was the food mans wants required.
In section 115 she shared her revelation of G.o.d"s original and present plan: Again and again, I have been shown that G.o.d is bringing His people back to His original design, that is, not to subsist upon the flesh of dead animals. He would have us teach people a better way.... If meat is discarded, if the taste is not educated in that direction, if a liking for fruits and grains is encouraged, it will soon be as G.o.d in the beginning designed it should be. No meat will be used by His people.
Her teachings made a clear connection between the diet one eats and the spiritual and moral sensitivity, clarity of mind, and strength of character needed to follow the spiritual life in an enduring way In section 95 she says: Foul blood will surely becloud the moral and intellectual powers, and arouse and strengthen the baser pa.s.sions of your nature. Neither of you can afford a feverish diet; for it is at the expense of the health of the body, and the prosperity of your own souls and the souls of your children.
You place upon your table food which taxes the digestive organs, excites the animal pa.s.sions, and weakens the moral and intellectual faculties. Rich food and flesh meats are no benefit to you....
I entreat you for Christ"s sake, to set your house and hearts in order. Let the truth of heavenly origin elevate and sanctify you, soul, body, and spirit. "Abstain from fleshly l.u.s.ts, which war against the soul"
In section 92 she adds: Indulgence of appet.i.te strengthens the animal propensities, giving them the ascendancy over the mental and spiritual powers.
Abstain from fleshly l.u.s.ts, which war against the soul, is the language of the apostle Peter.
The teaching that what and how we eat directly affects our spiritual sensitivity is consistent with the original teachings of Jesus. Although The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book One-which essentially describes Christ"s teaching of a live-food, vegetarian diet as a part of the cleansing, rebirth, and harmonizing with the spiritual path-was not available to Ellen White in the nineteenth century, she indirectly refers to this core teaching. In section 73 she says: The Redeemer of the world knew that the indulgence of appet.i.te would bring physical debility, and so deaden the perceptive organs that the sacred and the eternal would not be discerned....
The main point of her revelations was that it was time for all people to return to the original diet prescribed by G.o.d in Genesis 1:29. Ellen White was divinely directed to help people understand that a vegetarian diet would help them physically emotionally mentally and spiritually prepare for the Second Coming.
Preview of Chapter 19.
IN APPRECIATING THE IMPORTANCE of a vegetarian way of life, it is help-ful to understand that vegetarianism is a world-wide teaching that is a historical part of many major religions. It seems that in each part of the world people have independently acknowledged the importance of vegetarianism as a way to create peace, harmony, health, and spiritual growth. Are you ready to create less pain in the world and bring more peace and harmony by making the transition toward a vegetarian way of life?
I. Buddhism II. Zoroastrianism III. Jainism IV. Sikhism V. Islam VI. Hinduism VII. Principle of Ahimsa.
A. Vegetarianism as a major way to create less pain.
B. Dilemma of surviving without creating pain in the world.
Vegetarianism in the World"s Religions.
UNIVERSAL COMPa.s.sION FOR ALL OF G.o.d"S CREATURES is consistent with the highest ideals of many of the world religions, such as Zoroastrianism (Pa.r.s.eeism, as it is called in India), Buddhism, Hinduism, Pythagoreanism, Jainism, and Sikhism, all of which teach vegetarianism. Presently it is not universally practiced in Buddhism and Sikhism for perhaps the same reasons as in Judaism and Christianity Buddha, however, is quoted in the Lankavatar as saying: For the sake of love of purity, the bodhisattva should refrain from eating flesh.... For fear of causing terror to living beings, let the bodhisattva, who is disciplining himself to attain compa.s.sion, refrain from eating flesh.... It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order others to kill it, when it was not specifically meant for him.... Again, there may be some people in the future who ... being under the influence of the taste of meat will string together in various ways many sophisticated arguments to defend meat-eating ... But meat-eating in any form, in any manner, and in any place is unconditionally, and once and for all, prohibited.... Meat-eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, and will not permit.
In the Surangama Sutra it is written: After my parinirvana (supreme enlightenment) in the final kalpa (time era), different kinds of ghosts will be encountered everywhere deceiving people and teaching them that they can eat meat and still attain enlightenment.... How can a bhikshu (seeker) who hopes to become a deliverer of others, himself be living on the flesh of other sentient beings?
This teaching in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra sums it up in terms of the importance of vegetarianism for Buddhism and perhaps all spiritual paths: The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compa.s.sion.
The present Dalai Lama has expressed a strong conviction numerous times that it is important not to harm other sentient beings (including animals). He considers it part of the Buddhist practice of harmlessness not to eat meat. Although Tibetans as a culture eat meat, Buddhists in general do not. Now that the Tibetan Buddhists are in exile, the Dalai Lama feels that all Tibetan followers, as well as other Buddhists, should conform to the Buddhist practice of vegetarianism. The Dalai Lama himself is working in the direction of becoming a vegetarian.
In Jainism, ahimsa, the doctrine of nonviolence, is a central theme. Because of this, the Jains have maintained a strong and unbroken vegetarian lifestyle throughout history. Some Jains are so committed to nonviolence that they wear a mask over their mouths so that they do not accidentally swallow any insects, and they also sweep the path in front of them as they walk so as not to step on any living creatures.
The Zoroastrian religion goes back many thousands of years and is perhaps the first religion in recorded history that taught the principles of a balanced way of life, including vegetarianism and an ecological awareness. In this religion, the t.i.tle of Zarathustra was given to great sages over time, but has been most a.s.sociated with their last spiritual leader, who lived around 600 B.C. He was a strong advocate of a vegetarian lifestyle.
Sikhism, developed by Guru Nanak in the fifteenth century, is not strictly vegetarian because some of its roots are from the Islam tradition. According to Vegetarianism in Sikhism, by Sawan Singh Sanehi, a Sikh scholar, the Sikh teachings of Guru Nanak fully support the practice of vegetarianism. Guru Nanak was said to have considered the eating of flesh food improper, especially when using the practice of meditation as part of one"s spiritual life. In the West, the 3HO Golden Temple Movement is one of the biggest Sikh organizations and they are completely vegetarian. The Namdhari sect of Sikhs is also vegetarian.
Vegetarianism in Islam.
ALTHOUGH VEGETARIANISM is NOT specifically endorsed by Islam, there is evidence of some support for it in the Islamic religion. Mohammed is quoted as saying, Whosoever is kind to the creatures of G.o.d is kind to himself.
The prophet"s earliest biographies showed his universal compa.s.sion for all of creation. He spoke out against the mistreatment of camels and the use of birds for the targeting of marksmen. The Koran (s. 6, vs. 38) says, There is not an animal on the earth, nor a flying creature on two wings, but they are peoples like unto you.
Mohammed was said to prefer vegetarian foods, such as milk diluted with water. He was said to eat only pomegranates, grapes, and figs for weeks at a time. He is quoted as saying to some hunters, "Maim not the brute beasts." At another time Mohammed said, There are rewards for benefiting every animal having a moist liver (all living creatures).
Mohammed was not the sole voice sympathetic to vegetarianism in Islam. Al-Gha.s.sali (A.D. 1058-1111), a brilliant Muslim philosopher, wrote: Compa.s.sionate eating leads to compa.s.sionate living.
Although vegetarianism is not mandated in the Sufi path (of Islam), many of the Sufis (Islamic mystics) practice vegetarianism for spiritual reasons. The Sufi mystic Hazrat Rabia Basra would often be surrounded by animals when she meditated in the woods. One day, a disciple approached her in the woods and the animals ran away. He felt sad that the animals ran away from him and sought her advice on the issue. She asked him what he had eaten that day. When he revealed that he had eaten some animal fat, Rabia explained that the animals run from those who eat their flesh. The Sufis as a group, however, do not specifically advocate a vegetarian way of life. It is left for each individual to decide whether to make it part of their spiritual life or not.
The Islamic Holiness M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, considered by many an Islamic saint, was a vegetarian. He shares some specific teaching about vegetarianism that is universal for all. In his book, The Tasty Economical Cookbook-Volume II, he says: A true human being must have compa.s.sion toward all lives. There are so many ways to eat good clean food, without killing or tormenting other lives, and without eating the flesh or bones of other lives.... If a man eats meat, he will take on the qualities of the animals he eats. The qualities of all these animals can be imbibed by eating their flesh.... And once those qualities enter, the man"s anger, his hastiness, and his animal qualities will increase. The animal"s blood will intermingle with his blood.... These animal qualities are what causes one man to murder another, to harm and torment another.
In an unpublished discourse, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen gives both specific and universal answers to the question of the Islam and Sufi practice of vegetarianism. From a spiritual perspective, a deeper level of vegetarianism arises from the inside out, rather than from the outside in. He clarifies vegetarianism as the result and natural consequence of the development of spiritual consciousness: When a man"s mind attains a state of completeness in wisdom and when he reaches a state where he will not hurt any life within himself (in one"s mind), then he will not harm anything on the outside either. Inside he will not intend any harm or pain to any other life. Nor will he do anything harmful or eat any life on the outside. This is a state of wisdom, clarity, and the light of G.o.d. This is Sufism. Man is such a dangerous animal, and it is only when he changes his behavior that he becomes a good man, a true human being. When he changes into a good man, he will no longer have within himself the thoughts of killing or gaining victory over another life. He will not have within himself the qualities of distressing other lives, of wanting to hara.s.s or ruin other lives. If he does not kill anything on the inside, then he will not kill anything on the outside.
Once a person has the wisdom, the potentialities, and the qualities of the true human being, once he attains that liberation, he will have reached the exalted state of G.o.d. The darkness in him will have been dispelled and he will love his neighbor as he loves himself. Once he attains the quality of loving every other life as he loves his own, he will never kill another life. Nor will he ever cause pain to another life. Because he feels that the other life is also his own flesh, he will never eat flesh.
... such a one will not eat flesh. He will not eat another human being (within his heart) nor will he eat an animal. Some people will not eat animals (on the outside), but they will devour other human beings (within their hearts and minds).
The same difficulty seems to exist in Islam as in Judaism and Christianity. Initially a vegetarian way of life is too big a change for people and becomes a stumbling block for them. According to Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, in the past, The Prophet came and told them, "Do not kill. It is a sin. You are taking another life."
Because the people were not able to follow this teaching, Mohammed then had to limit, but ultimately allow, the eating of flesh because the people were not of the consciousness that allowed them to go beyond their blood l.u.s.t. As in Judaism, the killing of animals was limited by laws that were very difficult to follow. These laws are called qurban, involving the slaughter of animals after certain prayers are recited and while one looks the animal in the eyes.
As with the Kosher laws, the Koran lists forbidden foods rather than the foods one must eat. These forbidden foods center on meat. There are elaborate regulations for preparation that limit the amount of animals one is able to kill and therefore make eating meat considerably more of a burden than eating a vegetarian diet. Muslim vegetarians, like Jewish vegetarians, have no real scriptural dietary restrictions. Because Allah is praised as merciful and compa.s.sionate, vegetarianism and other types of compa.s.sion toward animals const.i.tute a way of following the Islamic teachings. Although Islam, like other modern religions, does not advocate vegetarianism to the ma.s.ses, vegetarianism is quite compatible with its essential teachings.