What is the ruling on eating meat when it is not known whether it was slaughtered by a Muslim or not?

The questioner : Peace be upon you. He says: What is the ruling on meat when it is not known whether it was slaughtered according to the Islamic method or otherwise? Is it permissible to eat it?

The Shaykh : The meats found in our markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are all, praise be to Allah, halal. Eat them, and when eating,

The questioner : He says: If we are certain, Honorable Shaykh, that these meats were not slaughtered according to the Islamic method.

The Shaykh : I say it is not possible for you to be certain. Are you standing over every slaughtered animal watching to see if it was slaughtered other than the Islamic method? And there are, praise be to Allah, people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who monitor this. Praise be to Allah. They monitor what comes into this country. So leave aside the doubts. Yes, if we were in a country other than Saudi Arabia where people do not care about these matters, we would say it is necessary for us to know that the slaughterer is one whose slaughter is permissible. If we do not know that he is one whose slaughter is permissible, eating is not permissible. And if we know that he is one whose slaughter is permissible, and they are the Muslims, the Jews, and the Christians, then if meat comes from them, we eat it, even if we do not know how they slaughtered it or whether they mentioned the name of Allah over it or not. In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Mother of the Believers, that a group came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, You have mentioned the name, so eat. If we wanted to bind ourselves to not eating meat until we know that the name of Allah was mentioned over it, we would burden ourselves with a great burden. But when an action is done by its people, we do not ask how it was done. This is the principle that contains good and prevents waswas (whispers of doubt). Every action done by its people, we do not ask how it was done; rather, we consider it valid and do not ask.