[The Brunei Times - opinion]

A VERY detailed and appropriate description of animal rights is present in Islam. Even a cursory look at the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) would show how Islam gave animals their rights at a time (more than 1,400 years ago) when such a concept was just unthinkable or totally unknown in the West.

The Prophet's teachings explain how a man should deal with the other creatures on the earth. Even kindness to the hungry animals is treated on par with great acts of piety that redeem a believer from grievous sins and earns the Almighty's pleasure. It shows that animal rights are no less important than human rights in Islam.
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This gives you an idea of how Muslims in the Middle Ages or before that looked at animals. Now that several Arab and Muslim governments have decided to include the study of human rights in the school curriculum, may I suggest that they include the study of animal rights as well. That alone would save several animals from total extinction.

Muhammad Abed Al-Jabri is a Moroccan writer. Arab News

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full story:
http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=36941