Re: Best Food in New York/New Jersey/Connecticut
I’m not sure about anyone else’s niyat or excuses, but there are specific definations and differences in the two words. Halal is a more broad term that ecompasses every facet of our lives, from what we eat, how we conduct business, what we wear, etc. Zabiha is a very specific term that applies to how the animal is slaughtered. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but really, have different specific meanings. So I guess some people (and I know quite a few!) would say that a chicken is permissable, but then don’t follow further distinction of* how* that chicken was slaughtered…
Again, it’s not for me to judge, that’s up to Allah SWT, but I would say that the ruling on that is pretty cut and dry:
Halal (Arabic: حلال ḥalāl, “lawful”) is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law
Dhabīḥah (or Zabiha, Arabic: ذَبِيْحَة ḏabīḥah IPA: ðæˈbiːħɐ]](http://www.paklinks.com/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_Arabic), “slaughterSUP[/SUP]”) is, in Islamic law, the prescribed method of ritual slaughter of all animals excluding camels, locusts, fish and most sea-life. This method of slaughtering animals consists of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck, cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact. It must be done with respect and compassion; avoiding as much as possible any animal pain or discomfort. The precise details of the slaughtering method arise from Islamic tradition educated by the prophet Muhammad, rather than direct Quranic mandate. It is used to comply with the conditions stated in the Qur’an:
Forbidden for you are carrion, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that which has been slaughtered while proclaiming the name of any other than God, and one killed by strangling, and one killed with blunt weapons, and one which died by falling, and that which was gored by the horns of some animal, and one eaten by a wild beast, except those whom you slaughter; and that which is slaughtered at the altar and that which is distributed by the throwing of arrows [for an omen]; this is an act of sin.
but I’ve passed by it…
Heck, I was there 2 days ago.