They are just like us: Animal ethics in the Sunni Qur’anic commentary tradition

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to identify general trends in the perception of animals in the Sunni Qur’anic commentary (tafsīr) tradition. Animal ethics in Sunni exegetical literature is explored through an analysis of Q6:38 in which animals are described as umam like humans. A broad analysis of seventy-two commentaries demonstrates that exegetes mostly aim to minimize the psychological, social, and spiritual complexity of animals implied by the shared term umam. This is achieved by restricting the denotation of the term to predominantly external features that emphasize the outward similarity between humans and animals without affording the latter any internal complexity. There are few exceptions to this rule in the pre-modern period; the commentaries that buck the trend generally have a more rationalistic and/or Sufi orientation. Contemporary exegetes are more willing to acknowledge the psychological, social, and spiritual complexity of animals and explore the full gamut of human-animal similarities insinuated by the term umam.