Transcend Speciesism For A Kindred Earth

Man is a deluded creature who always thinks that he's born to rule and dictate. This human delusion has assumed dangerous proportions in these times when man is on a rampaging spree, destroying and devouring all those he fallaciously perceives as inferior to him. The religion-scriptural belief that a human is the best of all creations has made us believe that we are the monarch of all we survey.

The misconception that nature has made us the undisputed supreme species that can eliminate others at will underscores speciesism . The great Persian mystic Hakim Sanai wrote centuries ago, "Humans must learn to coexist with all creatures," and poet Anvari said that "Hubristic humans are threats to all creatures and non-human animals."

All mystics believe that the very concept of equality and egalitarianism could be fully understood and realised only when humans could accept the most exalted truth that even a leaf, an ant and a branch of a tree had a pure dizaaf, essence and spirit - in Ottoman Turkish - as sacred as a human spirit.

In other words, it's not enough to establish equality and egalitarianism among humans but there should be seamless equality and a spirit of relatable empathy among all and sundry. How can we be condescending or disparaging to any other species on earth? Never forget that 'Har zarra chamkta hai anwaar-e-Ilahi se' - every particle glitters with effulgence of divinity. The problem with us is our ingrained condescension. Even in our so-called love for animals and other species, there's always an element of pontification that can be equated with Rudyard Kipling's downright pejorative phrase of The White Man's Burden. Who has given us the right to treat animals the way we've been treating them right from the dawn of human civilisation?

Humans call themselves the most exalted and also ethical beings. Are we? Jalaluddin Rumi says, "Shadeed-az-kwa nee ast munazin/Ya rafeer ul-qist amnazeer/Choon ke ast shadaaz raftam ke azdaan/Wahen ul-khirama, za dizt'un bu'azir?" - I've existence and I value it so much/So have all the beings on earth and they too, try to preserve it/Then, how can I kill even the tiniest creature/Just to satiate my palate?

Rumi said that all lives were sacred: Taa'shif nifaak b'astz sang - even a seemingly lifeless stone has a degree of consciousness; respect it. Like all mystics, Rabia Basri, and Rumi were vegetarians and shunned milk and milk products. 'Sheer mun-haraam nuzt' - to me, even milk is forbidden. He even refrained from sacrificing animal/s as an Islamic ritual on Eid-Al-Azha. Our values, ethics, and sense of morality disappear into thin air when we think of animals as lesser beings. Since we've not been able to treat every being as equal, we've not been able to treat humans in an egalitarian manner. Their rampant exploitation, nay depredation, of nature is an expression of our inherent speciesism and belief in being the apogee of all creation.

International Day of the Arabian Leopard is observed on Feb 10

Authored by: Sumit Paul