What is the ruling on eating imported chicken?

Question :, and may prayers and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Honorable Shaykh, a questioner asks and says: There has been much debate among the youth regarding the permissibility or prohibition of imported chicken. It is known to us that imported chicken is not slaughtered according to the Islamic, Sharia-compliant method. What is your opinion on one who eats it while knowing that it is imported?

Answer : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. As for imported chicken, I say: If the one who slaughtered this chicken is among those whose slaughter is permissible, and they are three categories: Muslims, Jews, and Christians, then it is not our right to ask how it was slaughtered? Nor are we required to ask. The evidence for this is what al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that a group of people came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, a group of people brings us meat, and we do not know whether they mentioned the name of Allah over it or not?" Aisha said: They were recent converts from disbelief. The one who is a recent convert from disbelief is generally one who does not know the rulings of Islam in detailed matters, such as mentioning the name of Allah over the slaughter. And yet he said: "Mention the name of Allah yourselves and eat." It is as if he (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) is indicating by this that asking is not appropriate; asking is not appropriate. As long as the act came from its rightful people, do not ask how he slaughtered it, and do not ask whether he mentioned the name of Allah over it or not? And as for this meat that comes to the Kingdom from lands whose people’s slaughter is permissible, we are not obligated, and indeed it is not appropriate for us, to ask how they slaughtered it or whether they mentioned the name of Allah over it or not?
And regarding the questioner’s statement, "knowing that they did not slaughter it in the Islamic way," we say to him: Where is the knowledge? If you know that this specific chicken was slaughtered without the name of Allah, or was slaughtered in a manner other than the Islamic way, then do not eat it. But if there are some factories that slaughter it in a manner other than the Islamic way, and this ruling is then extended to all factories, that is questionable. No person can say that this specific chicken, or this carton of specific chicken, was slaughtered in a manner other than the Islamic way. This is not possible because it is very difficult. Therefore, we say: As for what comes to the Kingdom, we assume the best of those in charge of the imports, and that it is not likely— we do not say it is impossible, but it is very unlikely— that they would spread forbidden slaughters in the markets of Muslims. Rather, they must have been careful in a way that clears their consciences.
So if a person eats from this imported meat, there is no blame on him. On this occasion, as an aside, a questioner asked me today and said: I invited a group to dinner, and among the meat was camel meat, and it is known that camel meat breaks the wudu (ablution).
The meat, the stomach, the liver, and the intestines all break the wudu because they are all called "camel meat." Just as when Allah forbade the meat of the pig, the prohibition became general for all its parts, so when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered wudu from camel meat, it was general for all its parts without exception. This host said: I told those who ate from this food that the meat was camel meat. Some people objected to me and said: Why do you tell them that it is camel meat? It was reported from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that water from a gutter or a pool affected him with his companion, and his companion said to the owner of the pool: "Tell us about it, is it impure or not?" 'Umar said: "O owner of the pool, or O owner of the gutter, do not tell us, and we are the ones who do not understand it as intended." You find that some people have a little knowledge, and they cannot understand the text as it should be with it, and then they build a Sharia ruling on it and issue fatwas to people. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and his companion are not the owners of the pool. They are questioners. The parallel to 'Umar’s case is: Are those who ate required to ask about the meat or not? We say to those who ate: Do not ask about the meat, just as 'Umar said to his companion: Do not ask, because his saying "O owner of the gutter, do not tell us" means that you should not ask.
However, if the news comes from the owner of the meat, or from the owner of the water who knows its impurity, then he is not forbidden from informing, rather it is obligatory for him to convey it. For this reason, the jurists said: It is obligatory for one who knows of impurity to inform the one who intends to use it, so that he does not fall into impurity. And on this basis, we say to the owner of the food who invited the people, and the meat was not clearly identified as camel meat: It is obligatory for you to inform them that it is camel meat so that they perform wudu from it. Because if you do not inform them, and they go on assuming it is meat that does not break wudu, and then they pray two or three prayers, or one prayer, and then they learn afterwards that it is camel meat, what will be upon them? They will have to repeat the prayer. And if you inform them from the beginning, they are safe from this. Yes.