Is It Permissible to Work in a Research Lab That Uses Rabbits in Glaucoma Experiments?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

I am considering a UK glaucoma research role that partly involves experiments on rabbits, humanely euthanized at the end, under the 3Rs framework. Is the job and its income halal, and would my other duties be affected if the animal work were not?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

Yes, you may take this role, and the income from it is lawful. Using animals in medical research is permitted when the benefit is real, and the harm is limited to what the research truly requires. Research into glaucoma, which takes people’s sight for good, is a genuine medical benefit, and the lab you describe works under the very conditions the scholars set.

Why Animal Research Is Permitted

Allah Most High says, “And has subjected to you everything in the heavens and everything on earth, all of it entirely from Him: Verily in all that are a multitude of mighty signs for a people who reflect.” [Quran 45:13] Animals are a trust placed in our hands, and they may serve human needs. The Hanafi jurists allow causing an animal harm for a clear benefit, such as branding or castration, and allow slaughtering even an animal that is not eaten when a benefit is at stake [Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahr al-Raʾiq; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]. What is forbidden is harm without benefit. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Do not take anything that has a soul in it as a target.” [Muslim]

Leading scholars today say the same and permit animal research for medicine, on conditions. Our earlier answers at SeekersGuidance take the same line.

The Conditions

Four conditions run through these rulings:

• Genuine benefit: the work serves a real medical need, and no alternative, such as cell cultures or computer models, would do the job.
• The fewest animals and the least pain: if one animal suffices, a second may not be used.
• Anesthesia: procedures are done under anesthesia unless the science truly cannot allow it.
• A merciful end: when the study is over, the animal is killed quickly and gently.

The 3Rs your lab follows answer these almost word-for-word. Replacement, reduction, and refinement are, in effect, the first three conditions.
The killing at the end of a study is not killing without right.

Taking tissue for analysis is a clear benefit, and sparing an animal prolonged pain is itself a mercy. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “God has prescribed excellence in all things. So when you kill, kill well; and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Let one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare his animal suffering.” [Muslim] A swift method that spares the animal fear and pain fulfills this.

Your Other Duties Are Sound

Ordering stock, running other experiments, and analyzing data are lawful work in themselves, and you are paid for them. Since the animal work is permitted, nothing taints them. The Hanafi jurists judge each act on its own: when someone else commits a wrong, the responsibility attaches to that person’s act, not to the lawful work around it [Marghinani, al-Hidaya; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]. So if a particular procedure ever crossed into needless cruelty, you would decline that procedure, not the whole job.

You Can Take the Role, and Carry Mercy Into the Lab

Benefit opens the door, and mercy sets its limits. Before you start, ask the lab to walk you through its ethical review, anesthesia practices, and end-of-study procedures; a licensed UK lab will have these in writing. Then do your part with care. Handle the animals gently, minimize their pain, and treat your work as a service to people losing their sight.

Each creature in your care is one of the “nations like you” [Quran 6:38] that Allah has entrusted to us. Excellence toward them is worship, and may Allah make your work a means of restoring sight to many.

And Allah knows best.

Faraz Rabbani

Related Answers

• Testing on Animals — Research on animals is allowed by genuine need, provided the harm stays to the least possible extent.
• Mercy Killing of Animals to End Their Suffering — Ending a severely suffering animal’s life is permitted in the Hanafi and Maliki schools once there is no hope of recovery, never without genuine need.
• Is It Permissible to Euthanize or Neuter Your Pets? — Euthanizing a pet is not permitted except when it is dying with no hope of recovery, though spaying or neutering to prevent real harm is allowed.
• Can I Work in a Company That Sells Both Halal and Haram Products? — Working for a company with both lawful and unlawful lines is fine when your own duties stay lawful, and the company’s primary business is legitimate.
• Is it Permissible to Work as a Veterinarian in a Non-halal Chicken Plant? — A veterinarian’s medical care for animals is a communal obligation in itself, permissible even inside a non-halal plant.