Taking an Anti-Sacrificial Stance: The Essentializing Rhetoric and Affective Nature of Meat Consumption in Islam

Informed by lived experience and research in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the authors analyze rhetorics of Muslim veg(etari)anism. Research on Muslim advocacy for veganism and animal welfare, particularly as these intersect with MENA environmental sustainability, is rare. The chapter fills this gap by analyzing Qur’anic scripture concerning animal welfare and environmental justice. It critiques essentializing rhetorics of carnism and anthropatriarchy, discursive constructions and enactments of emerging Muslim veganism, and how these discourses re/imagine or resist practices of and perceptions about Islam. The study addresses affective resonance surrounding dhabīḥah [ritual slaughter for halāl animals] particularly for Eid al-Adha [Feast of the Sacrifice], which illuminates intersectional marginalization by non-Muslims, challenges of diversity and inclusion within Islam, and construction and communication of identity through Othered consumption practices.