The verse says...

The verse says: “And verily there is a lesson laid out for you in the cattle…” Refined and purified human beings are the ones who go through different ups and downs of the stages of life, political issues and ideologies as well as various friends and yet are not affected by them or by their motives.

The verse continues saying: “…We give you to drink of what is in their bellies from between the digested food and the blood…” The prime condition for a drink to be agreeable to the taste, is its purification. It is certainly the case with drinkable waters. The verse says: “…pure milk, palatable for the drinkers.” Being agreeable to the taste must be confirmed by all consumers, and not only human beings.

Therefore, we note that the verse has not mentioned ‘palatable for you’, but it has remarked: “palatable for the drinkers.” In our civilized contemporary world, it is said and heard that some civilized countries dispatch all those materials, the expiry date of which has been passed, to be consumed by displaced people i.e. the refugees etc.

Consumption of milk by man reveals the fact that He Who has created the animal and has provided milk within its bodily built-up, is the One Who has created us and Who has been aware of our needs.

Hadrat-i-Ali (as), addressing the collector of the religious dues, ‘Zakat’, in the 25th letter of Nahj-ul-Balaqah, declares: When you are being sent for the collection of ‘Zakat’, you must observe certain principles, among which is leaving part of the milk of the animal in its breast so as its offspring might not be left without a proper amount of nourishment.

Do not separate the animal from its offspring; let the tired animals relax for a while along side the way, and finally, do not stop them from grazing and drinking water on the whole. Beating animals, milking cattle with long nails, exploitation and requiring over-working by animals, and every other kind of oppression towards animals is forbidden.