Scriptual injuctions on meat eating in Hinduism and Islam

I got this from a book Islam and the Vedas written by Rasamandala Das:

The Vedic literatures allow animal slaughtering for those who are too much attached to meat eating. Among the thirty three million gods that the Vedas describe, flesh can be offered only to Kali Ma. She, however, does not partake of the remnants, but distributes them to her associates who have demoniac forms. Other gods totally refuse any meat offering. The Koran shares a similar idea. "It is not the flesh and blood that reaches Allah, it is your sanctities that reaches Him [Koran 22:37]". The Vedic literatures, however, do not sanction the mass slaughter of animals as seen in modern slaughterhouses. There are many rules and regulations stipulated in the process of sacrificing animals. Once a month on the night of the full mon, a goat may be sacrificied. Prior to slaughter, he is required to say a prayer allowing the animal kill him in the next birth. The slaughtered animal cannot be sold to others. one is not allowed to buy meat from a butcher. At present, most animals are killed in slaughterhouses. Such killing is most sinful because it is done as a business, without taking into consideration religious rites given in scripture.

The mystic, knowing that God resides within all bodies wherein there is life, never indulges in meat eating. he is a friend to all. The following Koranic verse states that within the living body of animals is the soul: "Jesus created from clay the form of a bird and by His permission, he breathes into it, and it became a flying bird [Kiran 5:110]".

Islam also recommends sacrifice under certain rules and regulations. The person who holds the animal and the person who slaughters it, have to observe the ritual of praying five times a day. They have to perform their ablutions, feed water to the animal and turn the head of the animal in the directon of Mecca. The person who slaughters the animal must look into the eye of the anmal; recite a prayer in Arabic known as Kalema before cutting it's neck. While cutting, he has to continually look into the eyes of the animal until its soul departs and repeat the Kalema all the while. After cutting the neck, he has to keep looking into the animal's eyes and watch his years until it dies. Clearly, the purpose behind all these rules is to change the heart of the man who is slaughtering the animal, hoping that one day; he will develop compassion for the animal and stop this killing business.

From the above description, one has to realize that animal sacrifice is a risky business. Although the Vedic literatures allow meat eating under certain rules and regulations, they do not recommend it. For one who is a serious believer, meat eating hinders one's spiritual advancement. Meat eating is contradictory to the idea of realizing God within all living beings.

For the true benefit of everyone, vegetables, grains, fruits and milk are the proper foods for human beings. Eating is an essential activity for the human being for the maintenance of the body. To be healthy, it is not necessary, or even beneficial, to eat non-vegetarian food. As early as 1961, the Journal of American Medical Association stated that ninety to ninety-seven percent of heart disease, the cause of more than one half of the deaths in the United States, could be prevented by a vegetarian diet. In his notes on the Causation of Cancer, Rollo Russell writes: "I have found of twenty-five nations eating flesh largely, nineteen had a high cancer rate and only one had a low rate , and that of thirty-five nations eating little or no flesh, not one had a high rate."

Many animal are herbivores, they don't eat meat. Human beings have the superior intelligence to understand that all the varieties of foodstuffs that are available to him are the most merciful arrangement of God. One who takes his food, without first acknowledging that it is God who supplies all our necessities of life, eats only sin. As blood and flesh do not reach Allah [Koran 22:37], all scriptures of the world recommend that vegetarian foodstuffs should be offered to God.  "If one offers Me with love devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it [BG 9:26]".  Offering vegetarian foodstuff to God is a process that nourishes the soul, promoting compassion and dedication to God in the heart of the living being.  An example supporting vegetarianism is also presented in the Koran. For instance, the Lord gave the Children of Israel sanctified vegetarian foodstuff, but they asked for non-sanctified good mixed with onion and garlic. And they are were covered with humiliation and subject to miseries.  "One day they aid, 'O Moses, we cannot endure one kind of food; ask your Lord to give us what the earth grows, of its herbs, cucumbers, garlic, lentils and onions." Moses said: 'would you like to exchange what is good with what is bad? Go then to the city and you shall have what you ask. They were covered with humiliation and misery, earning the wrath of God, for they disbelieved the word of God [Koran 2:61]".

Eating sanctified vegetarian food that is prepared for the pleasure for the Lord is a very simple method for reviving one's relationship with God. That is the sum and substance of the Vedas, The ultimate purpose of the Vedas is to know Him only. One may argue that the Vedic activities are based on sacrificial ceremonies. That is true. But all such sacrifices are meant for realizing the truth about about the Supreme Lord. The Lord says "All that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me [BG 9.27]". One who first offers his prepared vegetables, fruits, grains and milk to God is released from all sins. "The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice, Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin [BG 3:13]"  Beyond the concerns of health, the offering of vegetarian foodstuffs to God has a higher spiritual dimension that can help one develop his natural relationship for God. One who reawakens his eternal relationship with God becomes a true mystic, a friend to all living beings.