Dear All,
A dear friend in a recent mail mused about "academics and scholars and vidwaans..etc " arguing endlessly about this "meat-jhatka-hallal" subject when Guru Nanak ji Sahib only mentioned "moorakhs". as in "Maas maas kar moorakh jhaggrrey..." Are we i ndeed beating about the bush on a NON-ISSUE ? I beleive so. Diet in Gurmatt is a non-issue. All those rules and regulations ( and there are indeed many many detailed rules about Kosher/Hallal - Both derived from the same source). The Hows the Whys the Whens are all side forays into the bushes. Nearly ALL who kill/slaughter - inlcuding the Chinese, Christians, and other communities even as diverse as the aborginals of Australia, tribes of the Sub-Sahara who are not muslims or christians etc etc cut the throat and drain off all the blood. The head is left intact joined to the dead animal.
The ONLY way one can see an animal indeed being killed by breaking its spinal chord/neck etc is by the hunting animals like lions, cheetahs etc.Those wild hunters in nature do not just take a bite to the throat and walk away in order for the victim to bleed to death before they eat it. Otherwise in 100% of cases of slaughter in abattoirs the blood is indeed drained off completely and the head is intact on the carcass.
Our Gurus hunted and the preferred methods were either a rifle shot or an arrow. In that case the animal bleeds to death as the head is not severed..or until such a time when the hunter arrives on the spot and completes the job with his sword...or not as ? This is also the same method applied by modern hunters.
Only certain times in India at Kali Mata mandirs and Nihung ceremonies is the Goat slaughtered by a single stroke to the neck severing it at once. A TINY minority of slaughtered animals die this way. This is supposed to be JHATKA - the "permitted" method of slaughter to a Sikh.In numerous Punjab villages and roadside dhabbas the preferred method is a TWIST to the neck. That would also qualify as Jhatka as the neck is broken - but this is applied only to birds/chickens and not to larger animals such as goats.
Numerous u-tube videos on the internet and Animal Rights Activist Groups propoganda materials show the undescribable horrors that take place on supposedly modern farms and animal breeding stations and the undescribable horrors that take place in abbatoirs- a testimony to Man's immense cruelty and GREED. Indeed Man is the only "animal" on Earth that actively practises and enjoys giving pain knowingly and for fun. Watch the Documentary Earthlings. Documnentaries on widespread cases of fur collectors,, whale hunters, seal hunters etc will make you throw up on seeing what man does to his fellow creatures, his pets, his "food", Indeed GOD is missing IF we fail to see HIM in all His Creatures. A "Stone hearted" man is all that is left. THAT is the stark reality of the modern cultivated FOOD CHAIN connected tot he nicely packaged meat products we see in store shelves. Gurmatt/Sikhism cannot have anything to do with THAT. A "lazy" Sikh is not a Sikh....just cannot be. Uddam, Dya Dharam are all hallmarks of a Good practsing Sikh. ALL these three are MISSING from the modern meat products. THere is instead a whole lot of religious dishonesty - exactly what Guru nanak ji Sahib saw almost 540 years ago in the society around Him and why He tackled this tricky reality via the Maas maas kar moorakh jhaggrrey shabad to guide us. Gurbani is timeless and Universal - applicable at all times regions and in all situations. Deep down we all know or we dont want to know. Beyond that it becomes individual choice and no amount of Gurbani quoting/hand wringing/ etc will chnage the reality of the situation. Each of us must settle this dilemma with himself.
Regards to all
Jarnail Singh Malaysia.
A dear friend in a recent mail mused about "academics and scholars and vidwaans..etc " arguing endlessly about this "meat-jhatka-hallal" subject when Guru Nanak ji Sahib only mentioned "moorakhs". as in "Maas maas kar moorakh jhaggrrey..." Are we i ndeed beating about the bush on a NON-ISSUE ? I beleive so. Diet in Gurmatt is a non-issue. All those rules and regulations ( and there are indeed many many detailed rules about Kosher/Hallal - Both derived from the same source). The Hows the Whys the Whens are all side forays into the bushes. Nearly ALL who kill/slaughter - inlcuding the Chinese, Christians, and other communities even as diverse as the aborginals of Australia, tribes of the Sub-Sahara who are not muslims or christians etc etc cut the throat and drain off all the blood. The head is left intact joined to the dead animal.
The ONLY way one can see an animal indeed being killed by breaking its spinal chord/neck etc is by the hunting animals like lions, cheetahs etc.Those wild hunters in nature do not just take a bite to the throat and walk away in order for the victim to bleed to death before they eat it. Otherwise in 100% of cases of slaughter in abattoirs the blood is indeed drained off completely and the head is intact on the carcass.
Our Gurus hunted and the preferred methods were either a rifle shot or an arrow. In that case the animal bleeds to death as the head is not severed..or until such a time when the hunter arrives on the spot and completes the job with his sword...or not as ? This is also the same method applied by modern hunters.
Only certain times in India at Kali Mata mandirs and Nihung ceremonies is the Goat slaughtered by a single stroke to the neck severing it at once. A TINY minority of slaughtered animals die this way. This is supposed to be JHATKA - the "permitted" method of slaughter to a Sikh.In numerous Punjab villages and roadside dhabbas the preferred method is a TWIST to the neck. That would also qualify as Jhatka as the neck is broken - but this is applied only to birds/chickens and not to larger animals such as goats.
Numerous u-tube videos on the internet and Animal Rights Activist Groups propoganda materials show the undescribable horrors that take place on supposedly modern farms and animal breeding stations and the undescribable horrors that take place in abbatoirs- a testimony to Man's immense cruelty and GREED. Indeed Man is the only "animal" on Earth that actively practises and enjoys giving pain knowingly and for fun. Watch the Documentary Earthlings. Documnentaries on widespread cases of fur collectors,, whale hunters, seal hunters etc will make you throw up on seeing what man does to his fellow creatures, his pets, his "food", Indeed GOD is missing IF we fail to see HIM in all His Creatures. A "Stone hearted" man is all that is left. THAT is the stark reality of the modern cultivated FOOD CHAIN connected tot he nicely packaged meat products we see in store shelves. Gurmatt/Sikhism cannot have anything to do with THAT. A "lazy" Sikh is not a Sikh....just cannot be. Uddam, Dya Dharam are all hallmarks of a Good practsing Sikh. ALL these three are MISSING from the modern meat products. THere is instead a whole lot of religious dishonesty - exactly what Guru nanak ji Sahib saw almost 540 years ago in the society around Him and why He tackled this tricky reality via the Maas maas kar moorakh jhaggrrey shabad to guide us. Gurbani is timeless and Universal - applicable at all times regions and in all situations. Deep down we all know or we dont want to know. Beyond that it becomes individual choice and no amount of Gurbani quoting/hand wringing/ etc will chnage the reality of the situation. Each of us must settle this dilemma with himself.
Regards to all
Jarnail Singh Malaysia.