Sf: The power-authority nexus is a discussion in itself. In the context of religion, it has various overtones. Its relationship with animal rights is but a figment of our leaps of imagination into a utopian idea or yearning. If slaughtering our best animals, till all their blood has been drained by the pumping of their hearts while they scream and kick for dear life, is not just a right but a responsibility in that its a ritual practiced every year, it seems that animal rights in the context that we are discussing them, are excluded the moment someone chooses to be a Muslim. I will therefore refrain from getting into history, its value and its veracity, as well as its applicability. It can be a touchy subject. The power-authority nexus is viewed vis-?-vis the relationship between man and God, and man and man as interpreted by a believer according what they choose to believe in or not. Btw, an incident that might have been quoted has to be seen in context and not by itself since I don?t know of any khalifa, however powerful, having banned the slaughtering of animals after hajj.

Khalifa, you mean God's 'vicegerent' on earth aka 'ashraf-ul-makhlookaat'?
And if so, i'll refer back to the slaughter at eid. And if human beings are the supreme beings on earth, then if we are to go all the way with tradition/teachings, animal rights are pretty limited, at least in the context that we are talking about it. Correct me if I didnt get the specific angle of this discussion.

Kaizer, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, khalifa refers to man's dominion over nature and, even in Islam, it now has connotations of ecological stewardship. While the issue of product testing on animal is pretty clear cut for me (I'm against it), medical testing on animals really challenges my views. I know that members of my own family depend on drugs that wouldn't be available had it not been for advances in medicine made by research on animals. That being said, the torturous conditions that these poor, defenseless creatures are placed in is something that will never sit right with me.

"khilafa" ? animals rights and the khilafat? are you serious?