The Ruling on Imported Meats from the Lands of the People of the Book

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, a questioner says: What is the opinion on the meats that are brought from outside this country and the slaughtered animals that are brought from outside this country, such as from Brazil and others, where it is written on them that they were slaughtered according to the Shari'ah?

Answer:
By Allah, this is a matter of difficulty, and it comes from the People of the Book. The default ruling regarding the slaughter of the People of the Book is that it is lawful; the default ruling regarding the slaughter of the People of the Book is meaning your slaughters. This is the default, but a change occurred regarding this default: they slaughter collectively. They slaughter birds collectively with a sharp tool that cuts off all their heads. This is the defect that occurs in their lawfulness. So some scholars suspended their ruling on it; some scholars suspended their ruling on it. Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say at first that these are the slaughters of the People of the Book, so they are lawful. But when he learned that they slaughter them in this manner, a collective slaughter, he suspended his ruling on that. Yes.