Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Many Muslims keep arguing about what they call ‘Halaal meat’ without even knowing the Qur’anic criteria. Most of those who reach the USA or Europe from other countries, or those who convert to Islam in the Western countries, are usually confronted by some Muslims, “Do not eat but the Halaal meat.” What do they really mean by Halaal meat? Nothing Qur’anic!

Most importantly, let us not equate Halaal with Zabeeha. The word ZABEEHA does not even appear in the Qur’an. God knew in His infinite Wisdom that the ways of slaughtering would keep changing with time.

16:115 He only prohibits for you the dead animal, blood, and swine-flesh and anything that has been dedicated to other than God….

16:116 Do not keep uttering in falsehood, “This is lawful and this is unlawful”, thus inventing lies against God. Those who fabricate lies against God, fail to prosper in their own ‘self’.

The upholding of any prohibitions not specifically mentioned in the Qur’an is nothing but idolatry. Such man-made restrictions represent some other god(s) beside God. If we obey God alone, we will uphold His laws alone and honor only His commandments. God very clearly mentions in the Qur’an what is prohibited from the food and meat.

2:173 He has forbidden you: dead meat (carrion), blood, swine-flesh, and anything (NOT JUST MEAT) that has been dedicated to other than God (be it a person, an idol or a tomb 5:3) …)

In addition to ignorance, the term “Halaal Meat” is a term often used for profits. Those calling their meat Halaal, are actually claiming that any other meat is not Halaal. And that the meat sold in the general groceries (supermarkets in the West) is not Halaal. They make more money on their products by selling it expensive. Ordinary Muslims get deceived that their meat is the only Halaal meat for them. God Almighty always knew that many Muslims would be living among People of the Book and sharing their food and for this reason God stated the following:

5:5 “Today, all good food is made lawful for you. The food of the People of the Book) is Lawful (HALAAL) for you……”

BEFORE EATING: God Almighty has also specified a simple criterion for His servants. Mention God’s Name on EVERYTHING you are going to eat. See 5:4, & 6:118-119.

6:119 Why should you refuse to eat on which God’s Name has been pronounced (i.e. it is dedicated to Him alone)?

NOT BEFORE SLAUGHTERING: Muslims have substituted God’s command (mentioning His Name on food before eating it) by a non-Qur’anic condition of their own making. They have made slaughtering (ZABEEHA) the ONLY lawful method of killing an animal for its meat. There is absolutely no such restriction in the Qur’an. As a result of this man-made restriction, the Mullah-minded Muslims and meat merchants insist that the Name of God must be mentioned on it before slaughtering an animal. The following observations prove that this imposed restriction is false and that it is non-Qur’anic:

  1. The first reason is that unless you have slaughtered the animal yourself, you cannot be sure that the Name of God has been mentioned on the animal. Therefore, the only choice available is to mention God’s Name before eating.

  2. Another reason behind mentioning God’s Name on our food before eating is appreciation:

16:114 So enjoy all the lawful and decent THINGS which God has provided for you. And be grateful for God’s bounty if it is Him you truly serve.

This act of appreciation for God’s blessings would not be genuine and heartfelt if we rely on someone else taking God’s Name somewhere in the slaughter house.

  1. By reading 16:114, we note that the command of uttering God’s Name is related to whatever we eat, ANYTHING, and not just meat. This includes fruit, vegetables, or even snacks like cookies, biscuits or peanuts etc. Should we slaughter fruit, cookies and peanuts? So, the only way to obey God’s law is to take His Name before eating all foods.

  2. Verse 5:5 makes it clear that God has made it Lawful for us to eat the food of People of the Book (Jews, Christians). As the Christians in particular do not take God’s Name before slaughtering, their food is still lawful for us. This can only mean that the duty is laid on each of us before eating our food and nothing else.

BLOOD: Muslims need to recall that People of the Book also consider blood as Forbidden. Whichever way the animal is killed for consumption, its blood either drains out or lodges in its veins. This blood is automatically removed during washing the meat. See that happen in a chicken you buy from a Christian merchant or from a Muslim pushing for ‘Zabeeha’ meat.

A HADITH DISCARDED: The Hadith lovers even discard their beloved Bukhari here: Sahaba Kiraam asked the Prophet, “People bring us meat and we do not know if God’s Name has been mentioned on it.” The Prophet (S) replied, “Say BISMILLAH and eat it.”

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Re: Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

Thank you for posting that

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Thanks mate... thats good to know... I agree with everything mentioned in the post... We take a lot of things literally and forget the real meaning behind things. People are more worried about whether the paincha is above the ankle or the daarhi is 2.5 muths, but forget the basics and the reasoning behind it. We also give these mullah too much credit sometimes and blindly trust whatever they come up with. God gave people common sense... that isnt used a lot of the times unfortunately.

Khair.... I've been keeping my eating to strictly non porky... everything else is OK, because I know Allah isnt putting someone in hell because they ate meat from the supermarket and not from almadina meats.

Timepass -April 2012
Timepass -April 2012
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Re: Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

Yeah, the people of the book aren't the same as they used to be in the Prophet pbuh's time. Majority of the plants (atleast in Canada) are not owned by Christians or Jews. They do not conform to Islamic regulations, we have hadiths for that. Go to one of the slaughter houses, you will know what I am talking about. As my work revolves around going to different slaughter houses for inspections.

Not only do they not mention Allah's name, they dont even cut the animal properly. Stun guns are used, the animal is tossed around like its some inanimate object, and the process happens so fast, the blood is NOT drained.

It seems taking the easy path to everything in Islam is becoming a social norm, where you will not find that in history. You have to struggle regardless of the time period.

You can either become like non-muslims and adopt their practices, or you can stick with your guidelines, but dont cross the boundries on the basis of what is easy and what is hard. You cannot justify something as part of religion based on how 'easy' it is.

This is Ridiculous!
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Crescent, are you with the HMA? I wish they had that in Montreal. Even after reading all this, I only call zabiha meat halaal, and will not eat any meat that isn't zabiha, inshAllah.

So my definitive answer about halal meat: If it's not zabiha, it's not halal.

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Re: Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

who is this guy?

Our Beacon About Us

doesnt seem like a very reliable source FG… the wife’s hairstyle alone is enough to discredit the whole website.

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Salam,

Yes I am. Sadly, things like these are not promoted in our community. Massive funding is needed to make it easier on retailers and plant owners to establish competitive prices. I mean the Jews come in before the HMA inspectors to inspect their kosher meat, and its twice as expensive as Halal meat, Yet the jewish community supports it, and encourage it. They pay for something thats halaal for them to consume. They dont "make it easy" upon themselves and eat whatever they wish.

InshAllah with more funding, this operation can expand and encompass North America one day. It is already established in South Africa and the UK.

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According to what I heard from an aalim involved in the HMA inspection process, HMA certified meat would only cost an extra 10-20 cents per box. That's a very small price to pay to be certain that the meat you're getting is really halaal.

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Try explaining that to the tight fisted muslim community.. :/

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Allah Himself says in the Quran Wa ateeoo Allaha wa ateeaorasoola, ie obey Allah and obey the Messenger. When I read that above quoted paragraph I was certain this article was written by those “submitters” who reject all hadith. What a great source to learn about Islam from! :smack:

The article already quoted the below verses from the Quran:

^ So any animal slaughtered in any name other than that of Allah is not permitted

How SAD that Muslims take this to mean that McDonalds is halal :smack:

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From Surah al An’am

118. So eat of (meats) on which Allah’s name hath been pronounced, if ye have faith in His signs.

119. Why should ye not eat of (meats) on which Allah’s name hath been pronounced, when He hath explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you - except under compulsion of necessity? But many do mislead (men) by their appetites unchecked by knowledge. Thy Lord knoweth best those who transgress.

120. Eschew all sin, open or secret: those who earn sin will get due recompense for their “earnings.”
121. Eat not of (meats) on which Allah’s name hath not been pronounced: That would be impiety. But the evil ones ever inspire their friends to contend with you if ye were to obey them, ye would indeed be Pagans.

Islam Question and Answer - Condition of saying Bismillaah in order for meat to be halaal

Condition of saying Bismillaah in order for meat to be halaal

What is the ruling on saying Bismillaah over the sacrifice, especially if the slaughterman does not pray?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Meat slaughtered by one who does not pray is not halaal, whether he says the name of Allaah over it or not.

With regard to saying Bismillah when slaughtering meat, the fuqaha’ differed concerning that and there are three points of view:

1 – That it is mustahabb only, which is the view of al-Shaafa’i.

2 – That it is a condition of the meat being halaal, but if a person forgets it by mistake it is still permissible. This is the view of the Hanafis, Maalikis and Hanbalis.

3 – That it is essential and cannot be waived under any circumstances, whether it is omitted by mistake or deliberately or out of ignorance. This is the view of the Zaahiris and was narrated from Maalik and Ahmad, and it was the view of some of the salaf; it was also the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: It is the correct view.

He also said: They quoted as evidence the general meaning of the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Eat not (O believers) of that (meat) on which Allaah’s Name has not been pronounced (at the time of the slaughtering of the animal)”
[al-An’aam 6:121]

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“If the blood flows and the name of Allaah is mentioned, then eat.” So in order for the meat to be halaal, it is essential that the name of Allaah be mentioned. It is well known that if the condition is not met, the thing is invalid, so if the name of Allaah is not mentioned, the meat is not halaal, as with any other condition. Hence if a person prays but he forgot to do wudoo’, he has to repeat the prayer. Similarly if he prays not realizing that he had broken his wudoo’ because he thought that breaking wind does not invalidate wudoo’, or that eating camel meat does not invalidate wudoo’, for example, then he must repeat it, because the thing is not valid without the conditions being met. So if he slaughtered it but the blood did not flow, by mistake or out of ignorance, then it is not halaal, and the same applies if he does not mention the name of Allaah, because it is mentioned in the same hadeeth. End quote from al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (6/358).

See also: al-‘Inaayah Sharh al-Hidaayah (9/489); al-Fawaakih al-Dawaani (1/382); and al-Majmoo’ (8/387).

Based on this, he should not slaughter sacrifices or anything else unless he is one of those who pray regularly, and it is essential that he mentions the name of Allaah when slaughtering and says Bismillaah (in the name of Allaah).

It is also mustahabb to say takbeer, so he should say: Bismillaah, wa Allaahu akbar (In the name of Allaah and Allaah is Most Great).

Al-Bukhaari (5558) and Muslim (1966) narrated that Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sacrificed two horned black and white rams. I saw him placing his foot on their sides, and he said the name of Allaah and he said takbeer, then he slaughtered them with his own hand.

And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A

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While there are people who take the whole halaal/haram food issues very lightly, there are also quite a lot of people who will prefer the certified halaal food.

I love what you guys are doing. May Allah bless you and all the HMA inspection/certification staff for it. I hope that one day the people of Montreal also get to benefit from your efforts.

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Re: Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

Cresent bro, please let us know how we the Muslims outside of GTA area can help out the HMA. Jazak for the info!!

To OP, please review your stuff before posting dude!

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Re: Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

Salam,

I myself am not sure how we can help out the HMA. Its a non for profit organization, while i love and fully support the idea of halal certification (which is desperately needed in Canada) as a worker for them I do not agree with their policies and practices. I cannot blame them for what they are doing, they have no choice, but if we could alter it, just a bit, it would help out alot of people.

If an outside body was investing in the HMA, the consumers, the retailers, and the slaughter houses would not burden the cost. There is divisions being made due to the presence of HMA, which should not occur, if the muslims community is willing to help the organization out. Certain plants and retailers cannot come up with the cost which HMA requires. I managed their finances and trust me they have no surplus to work with, they have no extra retained earnings to invest in, they are purely non profit and recover costs from consumers and retailers. They have no choice.

However, if we donated on a monthly basis, and covered their operation costs, if the muslim community pools together a fund to assist this organization, then it would not charge the retailers or the consumers, we would have halal certification everywhere, and we would be united.

By God, if we had a million dollars, it would solve our problems. However, this is not the case, HMA has to flourish and recieve negative feedback. Inshallah one day the idea can prosper, and the muslim community as a whole can benefit.

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Re: Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

I know a few people who work for a Meat Plant/Slaughterhouse and they too claim to cut the meat the Halal way. So, i asked one of them how exactly do they do it to make it Halal. This is what he had to say:*

Before there used to be an imaam reciting while the meat was being cut, but since that cost can add up overtime. Tyson decided to play a cd on repeat mode with the same recitation, while the meat is being cut. Slap on a Halal label and off it goes.*

It's really sad. This was a while back. Not sure if the practice is still intact, but if it is the public ought to know about it. It ought to be discussed with Muslim Scholars to see if such meat can even be considered Halal. I would guess Not!

I too wish HMA can grow to become the ultimate certification house for all Meat and Dairy products for muslims. I'm not sure if HMA exists in USA (yet!) but if and when it does, i would do all i can to help out. Muslim community has got to struggle a little, and for the most part people do want but the venues just aren't available. We rely on the label without further investigating.

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I have also heard about some of the strict practices of the HMA as explained to me by an Aalim, I was explained their process, how they inspect everything from the slaughterhouse to the store itself, and found everything to be fairly reasonable. What exactly is it that you do not agree with in their practices? I would love to help support such an organization. If you guys bring it to Montreal, inshAllah I will only buy HMA certified meat and only eat at restaurants that you guys certify (if you guys do that as well).

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Its just that you see some slaughter houses do cut their meat properly, but dont have the money to get their meat HMA certified, so they refuse to take on the certification, and the division occurs. Now if HMA was funded by a third party, and HMA sent its guys (just like Governmetn inspectors) to the plants and retailers without adding up the cost for the retailers and plants, then it will be really successful!

Thats my concern.

Lots of divisions are popping up, may Allah make everyone on an even playing field.

So what if a little cost goes up, people will benefit in the end if they're spending for Allah's sake.

And yes Teggy, sadly that is the case in many plants. We have maple lodge here which does nothing but that!

I saw a slaughterhouse where the meat cutters were swearing and passing dirty jokes, whileeee they were cutting the goat's neck. And then tossing the live goat around like itself has no feelings.

How can you consider that meat Halal?! howw?!

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From where did you get that link, ravage? I dont find any link in the original post?

Bait Bazi - April 2012
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Re: Halal Meat - Definitive Answer

heres the link for the original post.

Our Beacon THE “ZABEEHA HALAL” DECEIT

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oh… I’d never imagined funguy could look like that :crying: