The Ruling on Eating Imported Meats and Cheeses

Question:
Your Eminence the Shaykh! The questioner says: There has been a lot of talk about imported meats and cheeses, and that some of the imported meats are slaughtered in a manner other than the Islamic way, and some of the cheeses are mixed with the fats of forbidden animals. What is the ruling on them, Your Eminence the Shaykh?

Answer:
It is obligatory for the believer to adhere to the Shari'ah of Allah in everything. Allah has made lawful the food of the People of the Book, just as He has made lawful the food of the Muslims. Indeed, He has made lawful for us the meats and foods that you find from the lands of the People of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, unless we know what makes them forbidden. As for if we do not know, the default is purity, safety, and permissibility. So if you know that this food contains pork, for example, or you know that it was slaughtered for other than Allah, or you know that it is intoxicating, then leave it. But if you do not know, the default is permissibility; the default for you is permissibility, , whether it is meat or fat or something else, or a drink or something else. The default for it is lawfulness until you know what you must forbid. So if it is in the lands of the Muslims, the default is lawfulness. If it comes from the lands of the People of the Book, the default is lawfulness, until you know that this drink or this food contains a prohibition. If you know this with certainty, then leave it and advise them to leave it. Otherwise, the default is lawfulness. As for what comes from the lands of the polytheists, the idolaters, or the communists, in this era, the meaning is that if it is meat, its slaughter is not lawful. As for fruits, there is no harm in them from any land. Fruits and the like are fine. But what relates to meats or cheeses or the like from the lands of the people of shirk (associating partners with Allah), the lands of the communists, the default is lawfulness until you know the proof.