We've been doing a lot of discussion type ed on our farming topic recently, discussing the food crisis, where our food comes from and so on. I feel that this is a topic that the boys have spent some time thinking about, so suitable for use when the English textbook asks us to write a letter to a newspaper about an issue that we feel strongly about. Well, not sure about the strong feelings from them, but at least they know a little info.
The letter was to be about factory farming. The boys began the task by reading some further information around this topic from the internet. I found them pages on factory farming, (written from a pro animal welfare perspective) and I found some information on what is said in Islam about the correct treatment of animals. As Muslims our opinions on these matters should be moulded by what we have been instructed to believe through the Quran and Sunnah, not just by what we may feel about something. I wanted the boys to be able to address the issue with an Islamic perspective. We read about how a man who denied a sheep a drink of water on its way to slaughter was punished by Umar bin Al-Khattab (ra) for cruelty. Also we noted that animals to be slaughtered for meat should not be kept waiting and animals should not be slaughtered in sight of other animals. Indeed Islam requires high standards of animal welfare.
So the gist of what they wrote was that however animals are to be farmed their welfare should be a priority and factory farming usually (according to our sources) produces hardship for animals. Actually, I have not yet found anything written in favour of factory farming with which to offer a sense of balance. I have to assume it is just mass production for meat hungry populations and greater profits that fuel the industry.
Anyway, they wrote out the letter (it was a joint effort) using a letter template on the computer.
No comments:
Post a Comment