Using Animals for Clothing from an Islamic Perspective
Is wearing wool, leather, or fur haram? Can Muslims wear exotic animals’ skins? All of these materials involve practices that cause harm to animals and the environment and go against Islamic principles of compassion, mercy, and responsible stewardship of Allah’s creation. Non-animal materials and fabrics are affordable and widely available, which means that wool, leather, fur, and animals’ skin are unnecessary.
Cruelty to Animals for Clothing
The Quran is clear that we must not be cruel to animals. Verses prohibit us from eating the flesh of beaten, strangled, or gored animals. Many traditions tell of how the Prophet PBUH condemned cruelty to animals, denouncing acts such as beating, striking, branding, and marking animals. He is even reported to have confronted people who caused a mother bird to grieve for the loss of her young.
The definition of cruelty goes beyond just causing physical pain. It encompasses any action that intentionally causes physical or mental harm, distress, or suffering to someone else. This harm can manifest in various ways, ranging from physical abuse and violence to psychological torment and manipulation. The underlying factor in all forms of cruelty is the intention or indifference to cause pain or suffering. Although the Quran acknowledges that at times, we may have no choice but to use animals for their wool, fur, or hair—It reminds us that we are only to do so temporarily (“for a while”) and be grateful to Allah SWT for that.
The definition of cruelty goes beyond just causing physical pain. It encompasses any action that intentionally causes physical or mental harm, distress, or suffering to someone else. This harm can manifest in various ways, ranging from physical abuse and violence to psychological torment and manipulation. The underlying factor in all forms of cruelty is the intention or indifference to cause pain or suffering. Although the Quran acknowledges that at times, we may have no choice but to use animals for their wool, fur, or hair—It reminds us that we are only to do so temporarily (“for a while”) and be grateful to Allah SWT for that.
Is Wearing Wool Haram?
International organizations have investigated more than one hundred and fifteen wool producers across four continents and have documented the same cruelty around the world: workers in the wool industry routinely kick, beat, and wound sheep in the rough, hurried shearing process. Workers are often paid by the number of sheep they shear and not by the hour, so they work quickly— leading to cuts and wounds on the helpless animals.
Sheep don’t just suffer through sheering. We have altered Allah’s creation and selectively bred sheep to grow an unnatural amount of wool so they have extra skin folds. Extra skin folds means more wool for humans, but causes a nasty condition known as “flystrike” for sheep. Urine and feces collect in their extra skin folds attracting maggots which eat the sheep’s skin. In response, workers cut chunks of the sheep's skin off often without any pain relief and leave the bloody wound to heal on its own. Imagine having a chunk of your skin sliced off without any anesthesia. Then, the wound is left to heal on its own which takes weeks, if it doesn’t get infected.
Wool production is also extremely harmful to the environment--wool is the third worst material in terms of global warming impact (just behind alpaca fleece and silk). Producing a wool garment emits 27 times more greenhouse gases than producing one with cotton. It also causes large-scale land clearing for space to graze sheep, pollutes water supplies with toxic sheep manure, and the killing of wildlife who compete with sheep.
Wool is unnecessary since we're blessed to have so many alternatives. Widely available materials such as cotton, hemp, bamboo, as well as numerous groundbreaking materials like Tencel, Weganool, and Nullarbor can keep you warm without harming Allah’s creation.
Since the global wool industry is so corrupt, the Islamic choice is to choose clothing and materials that don’t harm helpless sheep.
Sheep don’t just suffer through sheering. We have altered Allah’s creation and selectively bred sheep to grow an unnatural amount of wool so they have extra skin folds. Extra skin folds means more wool for humans, but causes a nasty condition known as “flystrike” for sheep. Urine and feces collect in their extra skin folds attracting maggots which eat the sheep’s skin. In response, workers cut chunks of the sheep's skin off often without any pain relief and leave the bloody wound to heal on its own. Imagine having a chunk of your skin sliced off without any anesthesia. Then, the wound is left to heal on its own which takes weeks, if it doesn’t get infected.
Wool production is also extremely harmful to the environment--wool is the third worst material in terms of global warming impact (just behind alpaca fleece and silk). Producing a wool garment emits 27 times more greenhouse gases than producing one with cotton. It also causes large-scale land clearing for space to graze sheep, pollutes water supplies with toxic sheep manure, and the killing of wildlife who compete with sheep.
Wool is unnecessary since we're blessed to have so many alternatives. Widely available materials such as cotton, hemp, bamboo, as well as numerous groundbreaking materials like Tencel, Weganool, and Nullarbor can keep you warm without harming Allah’s creation.
Since the global wool industry is so corrupt, the Islamic choice is to choose clothing and materials that don’t harm helpless sheep.
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