Q. There have been a
few incidents of people stranded in the wilderness, on mountain tops, etc. and
they had to resort to cannibalism to survive. I can't find anything in the
Qur'an that speaks to this; can you please enlighten me from an Islamic
perspective if cannibalism is allowed when it is a matter of life or death?
A. The law of the
Qur'an does not refer to cannibalism even in emergency situations, most
probably because the scenario is deemed so unlikely an extreme that it is
almost impossible. Yet, the general philosophy of law in the Qur'an seems to
deal with it, and the reliance by jurists comes from a common verse and set of
legal maxims. Q2:173 states: "Forbidden unto you are dead meat, blood,
pork, and what has been consecrated to other than God. But whoever is
compelled, without desire nor exceeding the limit, then
there is no sin upon him. Indeed, God is forgiving, merciful." This shows
then that in cases of emergency, that which is normally forbidden becomes
allowable in order to preserve life. Cannibalism, it seems, would fall under
this category. The jurists have based upon this verse one of the major law
maxims designed to reflect this: "al
darura
tajlib
al taysir
-- emergency brings permission." This is phrased differently by some,
such as "al darura
tubih
al mahdhuraat
-- emergency makes legal that which is forbidden." They then detail
such cases through the use of maxims such as "al amr idha
daaqa,
'itta
sa'a,
wa
idhaa
ittasa'a
daaqa
-- if a matter becomes straitened, it grants license, but if it becomes more
relaxed, is more stringent in its regulations." This trite paraphrase
is made to ensure that the full extremity of a situation is felt before embarking
upon the relaxation of what is taboo. If, for example, I am stranded in a
situation where I have a companion with me, and there is a pig, I cannot
attempt to cannibalize my companion, but we must rather share the pig first. If
after that, we both survive, then we would have to exert all the possibilities
of our endurance, etc. If he dies, and I have no perceived way of surviving,
then I would make use of his carcass. The second part of the saying comes to
bear if, for example, while I am in the process of eating the body, I happen to
come across other food. In that case, the situation is now not as dire, and the
rules become more stringent. May it be that these discussions remain for us
solely in the dimension of speculation.
Posted August 7, 2013