What is the ruling on a poor man with many children buying imported chicken if local chicken is expensive and the poor man cannot afford to buy it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : There remain two questions regarding this issue.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : The first question: For example, in Egypt, due to poverty and high prices and the like, local chicken has become, for instance, five, six, or seven pounds, whereas frozen chicken is two pounds or a pound and a half or the like.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : So here, the need of people, especially a man with many children, is that he says, "I am compelled to eat from this chicken."
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Does this count as a legal necessity, even if the prohibition of the chicken is established?
The Shaykh : Not at all. It is not a necessity, because you know from His saying, the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3] until He said: [Al-An'am 6:119]. So the necessity here is that which exposes its owner to perishing. As for one residing in a country like Egypt, no matter how poor he is, he will not be exposed to death by hunger, for there are other foods that preserve him from being exposed to perishing or to the necessity mentioned in the question.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So they have, for example, fish, as Allah wills, which is not in this country. And even if there is no fresh fish in this country, as mentioned in the Qur'an, one can substitute it with canned fish, and what applies to canned meat does not apply to it.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So if his eating is constantly and forever from this fish, how can it be said that he is compelled to eat meat?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And there is, for example, eggs, which are among the nutrients, and there is, as Allah wills, plenty of what is lawful.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So the claim that he is compelled to eat what Allah has forbidden is a false claim, and that cannot be imagined except for one who is in the desert or in the wilderness. This is my answer.
The questioner : I mean, if we assume that the incoming meat is one hundred percent forbidden.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : But what if it is mixed, for example, we receive meat from Somalia, and Somalia is a Muslim country that slaughters, and we receive, for example, from Brazil, and from others, so I cannot be certain that this specific meat is not from Somalia or... it remains in the category of doubt?
The Shaykh : We mentioned that the ranks are three.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : The first question: For example, in Egypt, due to poverty and high prices and the like, local chicken has become, for instance, five, six, or seven pounds, whereas frozen chicken is two pounds or a pound and a half or the like.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : So here, the need of people, especially a man with many children, is that he says, "I am compelled to eat from this chicken."
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Does this count as a legal necessity, even if the prohibition of the chicken is established?
The Shaykh : Not at all. It is not a necessity, because you know from His saying, the Exalted:
Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُexcepting that to which you are compelled
إِلَّا مَا اضْطُرِرْتُمْ إِلَيْهِThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So they have, for example, fish, as Allah wills, which is not in this country. And even if there is no fresh fish in this country, as mentioned in the Qur'an, one can substitute it with canned fish, and what applies to canned meat does not apply to it.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So if his eating is constantly and forever from this fish, how can it be said that he is compelled to eat meat?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And there is, for example, eggs, which are among the nutrients, and there is, as Allah wills, plenty of what is lawful.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So the claim that he is compelled to eat what Allah has forbidden is a false claim, and that cannot be imagined except for one who is in the desert or in the wilderness. This is my answer.
The questioner : I mean, if we assume that the incoming meat is one hundred percent forbidden.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : But what if it is mixed, for example, we receive meat from Somalia, and Somalia is a Muslim country that slaughters, and we receive, for example, from Brazil, and from others, so I cannot be certain that this specific meat is not from Somalia or... it remains in the category of doubt?
The Shaykh : We mentioned that the ranks are three.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.