Global Warning! The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity sends a unified message about the environment and the dignity of all living creatures.

Placement of this unusual book is expected in school libraries across the nation.

Seattle, WA, October 13, 2005—There really is no other book quite like The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity, which tells the plight of all the living creatures who dwell on the earth. The animals appoint spokes ‘creatures’ that represent every species under the sun, including birds, bees, and bugs. In court, the animals, birds, bees bugs, fish and fowl air their grievances against the human beings who mistreat them. What better way to get your message across to humans than to bring a lawsuit?

This ancient Iraqi tale had been around for over a thousand years before two American Rabbis adapted and translated the story into English. Fons Vitae, a small scholarly press in Louisville, Kentucky, published the book last April. Merrit Clifton, Editor of Animal People, has described The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity as “almost a millennia ahead of its time.”

The first written version of the story, in Arabic, was composed by members of the Islamic "Brethren of Purity" Ikhwan al-Safa, a Sufi order, in the environs of Basra, Iraq, sometime before the tenth century. Much later, this one story, The Letter of the Animals, was translated and adapted by Rabbi Kalonymus ben (son of) Kalonymus, known among Christians as Maestro Calo, at the request of his master, the Christian King Charles of Anjou (in France), in the year 1316. The story was popular in European Jewish communities into the late 19th and early
20th centuries. Besides being published in Hebrew, it also was translated into

Yiddish, German and Spanish. It wasn’t until recently that two American Rabbis, Anson Laytner and Dan Bridge, translated and adapted the ancient Iraqi tale into what is believed to be the first English version.

Ingrid Newkirk, the cofounder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) stated: “This extraordinary work is an ancient tale of contemporary value, translated by a compassionate hand under royal patronage and with the help of religious scholars. Its moral lesson and its call for human self-examination are current. The 21st century needs a King Bersaf and a new ethics that abolishes the horrors of human slavery which debases our species.”

Animals’ is an incredible collaboration evolving from an ancient Iraqi tale that was translated by a rabbi into Hebrew in the Middle Ages and was translated into English by two American Rabbis, Anson Laytner and Dan Bridge, with a Sufi publisher, a Christian editor, and a Pakistani Muslim artist whose illustration was funded by a Saudi Arabian princess. The book appeals to Jewish audiences who would like to read a story that helps them connect to their tradition and, maybe, open doors to new ways of thinking that they may never have had before. The lessons told in the story also appeal to interfaith audiences who are looking for stories that transcend our religious communities.

Aside from getting support from a full range of diverse religious audiences, this story speaks to the secular aspects of humanity. Animal People Editor Merrit Clifton said: “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity made the case, through fable, that animals should be recognized as possessing certain inalienable rights, guaranteed by social contract, which could be enforced in secular courts.”

The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity contains an equally compelling environmental message. According to Rabbi Dan Bridge, “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity is a cautionary tale that looks at the relationship that we have with the environment.” The book has received attention from the prominent environmental organization, the Sierra Club. This past July 21st, Carl Pope, the Executive Director of Sierra Club, mentioned The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity in his presentation before the Spiritual Activism Conference in Berkeley, California.

On December 14th 2005, The Humane Society will co-sponsor a reading and book-signing event for The Animals Lawsuit Against Humanity at Third Place Books in Bothell, Washington. During the event the Humane Society will exhibit photos and bios of animals that are available for adoption and distribute educational resources to raise awareness for the compassionate treatment of animals.

Placement of the book is rapidly occurring in middle schools and high schools across the nation. The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity can be used for study and as a topic to prompt serious discussion of animal rights. The book is also a tool that can be used by teachers to encourage stewardship of the earth. In the words of Rabbi Anson Laytner, “What will happen to the land and the earth we live on if we don’t take care of it now? There are lessons here that we need to teach our children. There are lessons here that, we as adults, need to learn too.”
 

 [Return to Catalog] - [Fons Vitae titles] - [Interfaith Studies] - [Islamic Studies] - [Order books] - [Read more reviews and comments]

______________________________________________

*  *  *

“One of the most touching cart stories in early Arabic history relates the tale of the Sufi from Baghdad, Abu Bakr al-Shibli (d. 945) who dies and was seen by one of his friends in a dream. On being asked what God had done to him, he said that he had been granted admission to Paradise but was asked by the Lord if he knew the reason for this blessing. Shibli enumerated all his religious duties – fasting and praying, performing the Pilgrimage and giving alms – but none of these acts of piety had saved him. Finally the Lord asked him, ‘Do you remember the cold day in Baghdad when it was snowing and you were walking in your coat when you saw a tiny kitten on a wall shivering with cold, and you took it and put it under your warm coat? For the sake of this kitten We have forgiven you.’”

“There is a lovely story of the Prophet rescuing a gazelle as he was out walking he saw that a gazelle had fallen into a trap. He talked to her and she told him that her two kids were waiting for her to feed them, but how could she reach them? The Prophet helped her out of the trap and promised to wait in her place until she had performed her motherly duties. While he was standing there the hunter arrived, deeply disappointed to see that his prey had gone and that a man (he did not know it was the Prophet) had taken her place. Then the gazelle came back accompanied by her kids, and the hunter, touched by this sight repented and not only let the gazelle go but embraced Islam. This story was so much loved that in the Sindhi language alone there are thirteen long poems dealing with this topic.

From Islam and the Wonders of Creation: The Animal Kingdom

By Annemarie Schimmel

Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation London

 [Return to Catalog] - [Fons Vitae titles] - [Interfaith Studies] - [Islamic Studies] - [Order books] - [See also: Extended reviews and comments - Read more]