Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam-o-Alikum,

May Allah reward you for the work you are doing for the Deen-e-Islam. I read all your Q&A since I started receiving them. I have an important question that bothers me and my family all the time.

I am a Pakistani and we migrated to Canada from Bahrain where we lived there for about 8 years. Before leaving for Canada one of the major concern for us was whether we can eat meat here. I inquired about the issue with several religious people and got conflicting opinions

I also used to watch a religious program called "Question and Answer" from Saudi Arabian channel 2. I watched twice in the program where Muslims in Saudi Arabia and from West asked the question whether they can eat poultry, cow and sheep meat which is available in the ordinary local store/markets in the western world. The scholar responded that the Muslim can eat meat if it meets these conditions

(1. It has not been slaughtered in the name of other than Allah.

2. Blood oozes out of the body of the slaughtered animal as the blood is Haraam.

3. Animal was alive before it was slaughtered.

He quoted these condition from the holy Quran. He said that if you can ascertain these from your local municipality or slaughterhouse and are satisfied that these conditions are met then you can eat that meat. From the condition 1 it appears that it not a must that the animal be slaughtered in the name of Allah for it to me HALAAL. He also mentioned that our prophet (saw) had eaten food in non-Muslims' home when they invited him

My wife and myself read the translation of Sura Al-Maa'eda where the issue of Hallal meat is described and found this to be just as described by scholar in Saudi TV program. Myself and my wife used to eat chicken from the restaurants and fast food places but not beef or lamb until the person who teaches Quran to our children asked us to stop doing this as according to him in another Sura it has been mentioned clearly that Muslim should eat the meat that has been slaughtered in the name of Allah.

May Allah forgive me if I have misunderstood/mis-interpreted the Saudi program or Ayah of Quran.

My question is: What meat is Halal for Muslim, Why is there difference of opinion if the issue has been clearly dealt with in Quran and Sunnah of our prophet (saw). Please answer in detail, as much as possible, and definitive terms

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Halaal and Haraam Food.

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5: All the good and pure things have today been made ‘halaal’ for you; the food of the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) is ‘halaal’ for you, and your food for them.

Thus the Holy Quran is extremely clear regarding the food of the People of the Book (Jews and the Christians). Some people say that the People of the Book today commit ‘shirk’ and since the food of the mushriks is ‘haraam’, therefore the food slaughtered by the People of the Book is also ‘haraam’. This deduction is incorrect, as the Quran itself condemns the Jews and Christians for invoking their Prophets as the son of Allah and thus committing shirk. But Allah has made the food of the People of the Book halaal as seen in the above aayah of Surah Maidah in the Holy Quran.

Your understanding of the scholar you have quoted is absolutely correct. We must determine a few things, before committing to eat the food of the People of the Book as halaal:

The animal itself should be halaal in Shariah. (Even if they slaughter a swine, it will not make it halaal).

The animal has to be slaughtered and the blood should be oozed out naturally. It does not matter if the animal is slaughtered by hand or by a machine, from the front of the neck or from the back. What is important is that the veins must be cut to allow the blood to be oozed out of the body.

The animal should have been alive at the time of slaughter. It is a routine in most slaughterhouses in the West, that they electrocute or sting the animal with an electric shock, and then slaughter the animal. That is fine, as long as we are satisfied that the electric shock did not kill the animal.

The condition that Allah’s name has to be pronounced is not a condition for the People of the Book, as long as nobody else’s’ name is pronounced. If anybody else’s name other than Allah is pronounced at the time of slaughter, it does not matter who slaughters the animal, the meat is haraam.

The above laws apply only to the People of the Book.

All meat presented by your muslim brother to you is halaal.

All meat slaughtered by a mushrik (other than the Jews and Christians) is haraam. It does not matter here if all the rites of Islamic slaughter are followed. If the person slaughtering the meat is a mushrik (like Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, whatever) the meat is haraam.

And Allah Alone knows best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

May Allah guide you and us all to the Straight Path of Islam.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan