So I was conversing with my arab friend today from Qatar and we were talking about halal places to eat both in the UK and Qatar.
The conversation somehow ended up on halal meat and she stated that sometimes she eats non-halal meat by just saying ‘Bismillah’ and blowing on it. When I asked her whether this is correct as it’s not halal she stated that in a place where you don’t get halal meat, this is okay to do. However I rejected this and stated that 1) you do get halal meat in the UK in every corner and 2) if halal meat is not available why not just eat vegetarian.
Apparently not only she but many muslims in western countries i.e. UK, USA do this. I was just wondering whether this is a correct thing to do and whether you do this
what do you mean by not Halaal? do you mean zabiHa, the Islamic way of slaughtering an animal? as far as animals slaughtered by ahl-e-kitaab is concerned, Islam allows Muslims to consume their meat. any animal sacrificed in the name of Ghairulllah [slaughtered in the name of some other gods/goddesses other than Allah] is Haraam while Halaal animals slaughtered by ahl-e-kitaab [people of book] is allowed for a Muslim to consume. you don’t even have to say bismillah and dum-ofy [blowing on the food] the meat. you say bismillah before start eating anyways.
Allah does NOT desire undue hardship on the followers of Islam. we should thank Allah for that. this means OK to eat such meats but if someone doesn’t eat then it’s a matter of Taqwa and NOT legality.
Do we consider today’s christians to be ahl-e-kitab though? Isn’t it open shirk when pretty much all of Christianity says Isa (as) is the son of god/god? Essentially, only Kosher should be considered zabiha/halal… right? Or can we just eat food from a Christian establishment and its ok?
if Christian women are Halaal for Muslim men then why their slaughtered meat isn’t? how can it be Haraam? Allah has made it Halaal for us then who are we to not accept it?
KOsher meat is also NOT Haraam for us.
i agree with one thing that if Halaal is readily available then we should go for it. you don’t need to travel 50 miles to get Halaal/zabiHa meat.
hameN justujuu nahiiN karnii chaahiye. jise Allah ne Halaal THehraayaa use Haraam na ThehraayeN aur isii taraH jise Allah ne Haraam kiyaa ham par use ham qat’an aur hargiz ape liye Halaal na tasavvur kareN.
The food of the people of the book is not just what some guy who may be Christian or Jewish might serve you. They also have a procedure to follow to make their meat halal for them. If that procedure is followed, then that meat is ok for us to consume also. I know that just as we have bodies that monitor and certify our meat as halal, there are similar bodies for certifying and inspecting that meat is kosher.
However, as for the meat that is massed produced, that I would say we cannot take for granted that it is the food of the people of the book. This is for many reasons, here are a few–
We can’t take for granted that the people who are actually slaughtering are of the people of the book.
Even if they may identify as Christians (or Jews), in the mass production of meat, there are things that would make the meat questionable, such as stunning of the animal, which could cause it to die before actually being slaughtered. This would put it in the category of carrion (what is referred to as mayta in the Qur’an).
Meat of slaughtered animal for other than Almighty Allah and in a place where sacrifice is made for other than Almighty Allah before, is not permissible i.e., Haraam.
The meat served by the worlds kuffar in their fast food eateries is Haram, and saying bismillah or anything else does not make it Halal. Zabiha meat is made Halal at the time of zabiha
As pointed out by someone above the mass produced meat is Haram [forbidden] to consume, and generally the Islamic community finds it easy to avoid its consumption.
I do not live around the jewish people, but the meat in christian influenced locations is forbidden to be consumed.
I am happy that some of you guys have spoken, after seeing the post of kkf, i thought the world was coming to an end. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala protect us from Shaitan
I think this arab friend is making excuses which do not exist in Islam. Some people do eat haram meat in the west but generally our community is able to avoid it, nor even be tempted by it.
I would encourage you to emulate the attitude of the general community which avoids haram meat. Its actually very easy, do avoid it since Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala has forbidden it. It is Fard to avoid Haram. These two are opposites of each other
As for saying Bismillah, i know elders said an extra Bismillah before eating a piece of food that had dropped on the ground or otherwise become suspect. To protect from harmful effects of the possible contamination for health purposes. That is eating what is permissible to be eaten but with eating haram meat in this manner it is eating what is impermissible..and possibly an act of rebellion before reciting Bismillah
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[Ana`am 6:121] And do not eat that on which Allah’s name has not been mentioned, and indeed that is disobedience; and undoubtedly the devils inspire in the hearts of their friends to fight with you; and if you obey them, you are then polytheists.
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Yes I say Bismillah whenever I eat Fish, all other meats are not good for you anyways! why waste time on something that will harm your bodies health like red meat does!
also another reason to eat fish they say is that it is brain food, plus read somewhere that it will be the food in Jannah! wallah Alam!
**[Ana`am 6:121] And do not eat that on which Allah’s name has not been mentioned, and indeed that is disobedience; and undoubtedly the devils inspire in the hearts of their friends to fight with you; and if you obey them, you are then polytheists.
This is the exact same verse Majority of Muslims use for permissibly of eating non Zabiha meat of Halal Animal.
If you pay close attention the verse says that "**And do not eat that on which Allah’s name has not been mentioned"
The verse is not restricting it to “meat or meat products only” majority of Muslims interpret it to be applicable to any halal edible item you eat. Meaning you have to say Bismillah before you eat anything edible and halal, not just the meat.