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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 Alaikum,

First of all I want to compliment and appreciate what you have setup is adding knowledge and helping many people understand Islam and it`s teachings gradually. MashAllah. May Allah reward you.

Eating no-halal meat has been justified by some scholars. Chapter 5, Verse 5 tells us we can eat the meat of the People of the Book. Are there any extra conditions that apply to that? Some scholars have concluded it is fine because chicken or beef in itself is not haram and therefore it is okay to eat non-halal or non-zabihah meat although first preference should be for halal. Can you please reaffirm or correct me if I am following something thats unacceptable to Allah.

Jazak-Allah.

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Answer:

Eating 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 whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Your Question: Eating no-halal meat has been justified by some scholars.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verses 3-5:

3 Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah, that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you completed my favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if any forced by hunger with no inclination to transgression Allah is indeed Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.

4 They ask thee what is lawful to them (as food): say: Lawful unto you are (all) things good and pure: and what ye have taught your trained hunting animals (to catch) in the manner directed to you by Allah; eat what they catch for you but pronounce the name of Allah over it: and fear Allah; for Allah is swift in taking account.

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.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, unless and until one is forced by absolute hunger and consumes of the listed ‘haraam’ or prohibited food only as much and so as to save his life…..the foods which are prohibited by Allah and His Messenger (saws) for the believers will remain prohibited!

Believe and know with absolute conviction brother that no scholar, no jurist, no one, and we reiterate, absolutely no one in creation has the authority to declare lawful what Allah and His Messenger (saws) have declared unlawful!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verses 116-117:

116 But say not for any false thing that your tongues may put forth "This is lawful and this is forbidden" so as to ascribe false things to Allah. For those who ascribe false things to Allah will never prosper.

117 (In such falsehood) is but a paltry profit; but they will have a most Grievous Penalty.

Dear and beloved brother, only and only Allah and His Messenger (saws) have the right to declare what is lawful and what is unlawful; and absolutely no one in creation has been give the authority to supercede the Decisions and Commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws)!

Allah is our witness brother, the supposed scholar who (Allah forbid) declares something lawful which Allah and His Messenger (saws) have Declared as unlawful, and those who obey or follow their opinion and consume the unlawful; both will share their appropriate burden of the sin for indulging in the ‘haraam’.

Your Question: Chapter 5, Verse 5 tells us we can eat the meat of the People of the Book. Are there any extra conditions that apply to that?

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5 (part):

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.

If the below five conditions are met, the food served by the People of the Book will be termed halaal for the believers.

1.      The animal itself should be halaal in Shariah. (Even if a muslim (Allah forbid) were to slaughter swine, it will not make it halaal!!).

2.      The one who slaughters the animal must either be a Muslim, or a Jew or a Christian. If any other person slaughters the animal, it will not be considered halaal.

3.      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.

4.      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 one is satisfied that the electric shock did not kill the animal before its slaughter!

5.      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.

Your Question: Some scholars have concluded it is fine because chicken or beef in itself is not haram and therefore it is okay to eat non-halal or non-zabihah meat although first preference should be for halal.

Beloved brother, indeed the flesh of chicken and cattle are lawful as food unto the believers, provided the animal is duely slaughtered according to requirements of Shariah, which are:

1. The one who slaughters the ‘lawful’ animal must be amongst the believers, or from amongst the People of the Book.
2. The animal should be alive at the time of slaughter.
3. The animal should be duely slaughtered and the blood oozed out naturally.

Even if the animal in its essence is lawful (like chicken or cattle, etc.), but if even one of the below listed conditions are violated, that flesh would be absolutely forbidden for the believers to consume as food:

1. The one who slaughters the lawful animal is neither a Muslim, nor a Christian, nor a Jew.
2. If the animal is dead before it is slaughtered, regardless if even a Muslim were to slaughter the dead animal; its flesh would be unlawful.
3. If the animal were to die of any other reason other than its due slaughter, the flesh of that animal would be absolutely unlawful as food for the believers.
4. If the animal is slaughtered in the name of any other than Allah Subhanah, regardless of who slaughters that animal….the flesh of that animal would be absolutely unlawful for the believers.

It remains the responsibility of the believer who consumes the food to strive to determine and make absolutely certain that the food he is about to consume is not unlawful.

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan