Is the meat
you eat Halal?
In the uk.Most animals
are stunned before slaughter. Stunning an animal
is haram in Islam as it causes pain and suffering
to the animal and it causes the blood to be retanined
in the body of the animal, making it unclean and
haram for muslims to eat. Not only is the meat of
stunned animals prohibited to eat for Muslims, but
it is also unhealthy and not suitable for consumption
as the blood of a stunned animal freezes and remains
in its body, retaining bacteria, infections and
illnesses which the animal may have, as well as
blood being haram for Muslims to eat.
Having no where
to buy Halal meat is not an excuse or islamic condition
for eating Haram food. The meat sold in the supermarkets
in general, has been stunned and therefore due to
this stunning, the meat is Haram for a Muslim to
eat.
“Eat
not of that (meat) on which Allah's Name has not
been pronounced (at the time of the slaughtering
of the animal), for surely it is Fisq (a sin and
disobedience to Allaah). And certainly, the Shayaateen
(devils) do inspire their friends (from mankind)
to dispute with you, and if you obey them, then
you would indeed be Mushrikoun (kaafir).”
al-An’aam, 6: 121
We can eat the meat of the people
of the book, however this is with the strict condition
that it has been slaughtered in accordance with
shariah law and that the name of Allah alone has
been pronounced upon slaughter. Shaikh saleh Al
Munajjid explains what People of the book means
in the following answer.
The Christians
and the Jews of the People of the Book in our times
are indeed those People of the Book that are mentioned
in the texts of shari'ah in the Qur'an and sunnah,
and they are the kuffar (unbelievers) of the Jews
and Christians that existed at the time of the Prophet
(peace be upon him). They are the people of the
corrupted Torah and corrputed Injeel, as evidenced
by the fact that Allah (swt) addressed them and
named them "People of the Book" despite
their being kuffar and their books being corrupted,
as indicated in the following interpretations of
the meanings of the aayaat:
Aala 'imran: 70:
O People of the Book! why
do you reject the Signs of Allah, of which you are
(yourselves) witnesses?
Al-maa'ida: 15:
O People of the Book! there
has come to you Our Messenger, revealing to you
much that you used to hide in the Book, and passing
over much (that is now unnecessary): There has come
to you from Allah a (new) light and a perspicuous
Book.
Al-hashr: 2: (in regards
to the Battle of Bani al-Nadeer):
It is He Who got out the
Unbelievers among the People of the Book from their
homes at the first gathering (of the forces)…
These kuffar among the People of
the Book have certain abrogating qualities distinguishing
them from the rest of the kuffar, by virtue of the
fact that they are recipients of heavenly guidance
and are people of previously revealed divine books—even
though they corrupted them—unlike the remainder
of the kuffar who have neither a previous book nor
messenger, such as the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Buddhists,
the communists, and others.
Because of this distinguishing quality,
the shari'ah has specified special rulings particular
to the People of the Book, and exceptions specific
to them in some rulings, such as allowing marriage
to the the chaste and virtuous (whether virgins
or previously married) among their women and the
permissibility of eating their slaughtered meat,
as indicated in the following ayah (interpretation
of the meaning):
Surah Maa'ida: 5
This day are (all) things
Good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of
the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours
is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage)
are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but
chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed
before your time, when you give them their due dowers,
and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues…
The preceding discussion is in regards
to the general ruling with respect to slaughtered
meat of the People of the Book; as for the specifics,
the slaughtered meat of People of the Book can be
one of several cases:
1. That he slaughters it via the
known way specified by shari'ah and he speaks the
name of Allah upon it. In this case there is no
problem in the permissibility of eating it.
2. That he does not slaughter it
by the way specified by shari'ah as is the case
if he chokes it or electrocutes it until it dies
or drowns it in water until it dies or kills it
by a bullet, etc. In this case there is no doubt
that eating it is forbidden since it is maita (meat
of an animal that has died without properly being
slaughtered) and Allah has forbidden it in the Qur'an
"… and forbidden
unto you is maita…" al-Maa'ida:3
3. That he mentions the name of
someone or something other than Allah upon it as
he is slaughtering, such as the Messiah or otherwise.
Likewise there is no doubt that the meat in this
case is haraam, since it is among what has been
dedicated to other than Allah, which is specifically
forbidden in the ayah,
surat al-Maa'ida: 3 "Forbidden
to you (for food) are: maita, blood, the flesh of
swine, and that on which has ben invoked the name
of other than Allah; that which has been killed
by strangling or by a violent blow…"
4. That we receive their meat and
we don't know if it has been slaughtered properly
or not. In this case the rule of thumb is that if
we don't know the way of slaughter, the default
is that it is permitted if it has been slaughtered
by Muslims or Ahl il-Kitaab (Fatawa Islamiyya, Sheikh
Abdel-Aziz Bin Baz, 3/404), as per the generally
encompassing ayah
"and
the food of the people to whom have been revealed
the Book is permitted for you"al-Maa'ida:5
If it becomes evident to us that
they have not slaughtered it properly then it would
not be permisible.
5. That we receive their meat and
we don't know what they have mentioned upon it,
and in this case likewise the preferrable and recommended
opinion is the permissibility of eating it, as per
the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari via Aa'isha that,
"some people said to
the Prophet (peace be upon him) that a people come
to them with meat which they do not know whether
they have mentioned the name of Allah upon it or
not. The Prophet replied "Mention the name
of Allah upon it and eat it."
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
(www.islam-qa.com)
If it is not known how the meat
was slaughtered, but it is thought that it was most
likely slaughtered in the Islamic manner, because
it comes from a country where most of the people
are Muslims or People of the Book, then it is sufficient
to mention the name of Allaah when eating. But if
it is known that it was slaughtered in a manner
that is not Islamic, (ie:stunned) then it is not
permissible to eat it, because it comes under the
ruling of maytah (dead meat), and Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning)
“Eat not (O believers)
of that (meat) on which Allaah’s Name has
not been pronounced (at the time of the slaughtering
of the animal)” al-An’aam 6:121
Written by al-Khudayr (www.islam-qa.com)
Taking all of this into consideration
we must also understand the following, that meat
slaughtered by the Christians in the u.k and Jersey
has first been stunned.
It is haram to stun an animal by
striking it or giving it an electric shock etc,
because that causes suffering to the animal, and
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) forbade causing suffering and tormenting them,
and he enjoined kindness and goodness in general
terms, and with regard to slaughter in particular.
Muslim narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah
be pleased with him) that the Prophet salallahu
alleyhi wa salam said:
“Do not take anything
in which there is a soul as a target.”
And Muslim narrated that Jaabir
ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said:
"The Messenger of Allaah
salallahu alleyhi wa salam forbade tormenting any
kind of animal to death."
Muslim also narrated from Shaddaad
ibn ‘Aws (may Allaah be pleased with him)
that the Prophet salallahu alleyhi wa salam said:
“Allaah has decreed
kindness (or proficiency) in all things. So when
you kill, kill well, and when you slaughter, slaughter
well. Let one of you sharpen his blade and spare
suffering to the animal he slaughters.”
this is clear evidence that it is
not permissable to eat the meat of an animal that
has been stunned. May Allah help us to ahere to
that which pleases him amin.
