You have repeatedly mentioned that meat bought in supermarkets in European countries is permissible to eat.
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:
I feel
the answer given below is a bit too lienient. Please comment on this issue.
Jazak allah
Meat in Christian Countries
Q. You have repeatedly mentioned that meat bought in supermarkets in European
countries is permissible to eat. The question is whether Europeans today are
Christian in the Qur’anic sense. Perhaps most of them do not consider
themselves Christians. They definitely do not mention the name of God when they
slaughter their animals. Can we apply the same rule to meat bought in Hindu or
Buddhist countries?
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errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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Answer:
Food in Europe
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.
Your
Statement: You have repeatedly mentioned that meat bought in supermarkets in
European countries is permissible to eat.
If
a few conditions (which are listed below) can be met, then and only then the
meat served in predominantly Christian nations like the
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.
It
is evident from the above aayah of the Holy Quran that the food of the People
of the Book (Jews and the Christians) is halaal for the believers. 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.
If
the below five conditions are met, the food served by the People of the Book
will be deemed 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, that meat is haraam.
Your
Question: The question is whether Europeans today are Christian in the Qur’anic
sense. Perhaps most of them do not consider themselves Christians.
Beloved brother in Islam, just as any person who declares
the testification of faith in Allah and His Last Messenger will be regarded as
a legal ‘muslim’ in the Sight of Shariah Law, any peson who is born into or
professes their belief as a Jew or a Christian will be regarded as one amongst
the ‘People of the Book’ in the Sight of Shariah Law. Just as the food slaughtered by a legal
‘muslim’ who has declared the testification of faith is considered lawful in
Shariah Law, the flesh of the lawful animal which is slaughtered by one amongst
the ‘People of the Book’ will be absolutely lawful and legal in the Sight of
Shariah Law.
There is a huge misunderstanding and confusion in the
Muslim Ummah today that the People of the Book of today are not the same and they
commit shirk, therefore the laws of the permissibility of their food and the
marriage with their woman are forbidden to the believers. Allah Subhanah Himself in the Quran declares
that the People of the Book commit shirk and are disbelievers, but in spite of
that He has given them a special status as the ‘People of the Book’, and made
it permissible for the believers to consume the lawful food they slaughter, and
marry amongst their women; if indeed they wish to do so.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah
Taubah verse 30:
30 The Jews call Uzair a son of Allah and the Christians call Christ
the son of Allah!
That is a saying from their mouths; (in this) they but imitate what the
unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's
curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah
Maidah verses 72-73:
72 They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ, the son of
Mary." But said Christ: "O
children of
73 They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for
there is no god except One Allah. If
they desist not from their word (of blasphemy) verily a grievous penalty will
befall the blasphemers among them.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah
Nisaa verse 171:
171 O people of the Book! Commit
no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but Truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more
than) a Messenger of Allah, and His Word which He bestowed on Mary, and a
Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will
be better for you: for Allah is One Allah: Glory be to Him: (for Exalted is He)
above having a son! To Him belong all
things in the heavens and on earth. And
enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.
Even when the Quran was being revealed, the Christians
believed in the falsehood that Prophet Jesus (a.s.) was (I seek refuge in
saying this!) the son of Allah Subhanah!
But in spite of their this false belief and blasphemy, Allah Subhanah
has permitted and allowed and declared it lawful for the the believers to eat
of their lawfully slaughtered food and marry amongst their chaste woman, if
indeed they choose to do so.
Your
Question: They definitely do not mention the name of God when they slaughter
their animals.
The absolute majority of the
scholars are unanimous in their opinion that the condition that Allah’s Name be
pronounced at the time of slaughter is not a condition for the People of the
Book. As long as the Jewish or Christian
brethren do not pronounce any other name than Allah Subhanah, the flesh of the
lawful animal they slaughter will be considered lawful for the believers to
consume.
Even if a muslim were to pronounce any other name other
than the Blessed Name of Allah Subhanah at the time of slaughter, that food
would be unlawful for the believers to consume!
For example, if one regardless of whether he claims to be
a ‘Muslim’, or a Jew, or a Christian….if that person at the time of slaughter
pronounces any name other than of Allah Subhanah….that food would become
absolutely unlawful for the believers to consume! For example if the Muslim brother (Allah
forbid) were to say ‘in the name of Mohamed (saws)’, or the Jewish brother were
to say ‘in the name of Musa (a.s.)’, or the Christian brother were to say ‘in
the name of Jesus (a.s.) or Maryam (a.s.)’, etc….that food would become
unlawful for the believers because it has been served in the name of one other
than Allah Subhanah.
Your
Question: Can we apply the same rule to meat bought in Hindu or Buddhist
countries?
The flesh of the animal slaughtered by any other than a
Muslim, or a Jew, or a Christian would be absolutely unlawful for the believers
to consume; absolutely regardless of which country that animal was slaughtered
in!
If in a Hindu or Buddhist country or nation, a Muslim, or
a Jew, or a Christian were to slaughter a lawful animal….its food would be
deemed lawful for the believers; and conversely, even if one were in an Islamic
country or nation, but the animal was slaughtered by a Hindu or a Buddhist or
any other than a Muslim or a Jew or a Christian, that food would be unlawful
for the believers to consume.
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
Wister