We have fifty percent of the meat imported, and ninety percent of it is not slaughtered according to the Shari'ah.
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The questioner : In the course of... in Kuwait, fifty percent of the meat consumed is imported... and some of this imported meat may not be slaughtered; the method of slaughter in the slaughterhouses is known... electricity, and thus there is doubt, indeed certainty, that approximately forty-five percent of the meat consumed in Kuwait is not slaughtered. Does this call for us to prohibit this meat, knowing that prohibiting this meat from entering Kuwait will remain a primary source of food for the people, or does the Shari'ah interest require that we proceed gradually and pave the way for the slaughtered or the halal before we reach the stage of prohibition?
The Shaykh : No, there is no interest in it, no interest here in making permissible what Allah has forbidden, ever. And in what He has made lawful, there is sufficiency from what He has forbidden. But the issue that should be looked at in the details you presented is one with precision. If you assume that fifty percent is killed and fifty percent is slaughtered, we are still at the point of doubt. This is the point that does not allow the Muslim scholar to issue a ruling of prohibition unless he stands before a specific slaughtered animal and knows by some means that this one itself is killed and not slaughtered; then he takes the ruling of prohibition. But when you research the matter generally and imagine that fifty percent is halal; meaning some of it is fifty percent halal, and the other fifty percent is haram, and this is not distinguished from that; as I said earlier: we are still at the point of doubt. But if the scale of one of the proportions tips, you take the ruling of the predominant; either permissibility or prohibition. If we say, for example, fifty-five percent is killed, and forty-five percent is slaughtered, it takes the ruling of prohibition; because the haram predominates over the halal.
The questioner : There is more detail.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : It is from here that the distinction comes. Of the frozen meats, ninety percent of them are killed, meaning there is a way to distinguish. The fifty percent is slaughter within slaughter, but large quantities of meat are imported frozen, slaughtered abroad, while the slaughtered is slaughtered in Kuwait, meaning...
The Shaykh : Meaning you intend that what is slaughtered in the country is all slaughtered, but its proportion relative to the imported is fifty percent?
The questioner : Approximately.
The Shaykh : And what is imported is ninety percent?
The questioner : The one that is imported, if we assume the meats... one hundred tons, fifty tons of it is slaughtered locally, and fifty tons is imported frozen. Of the fifty tons imported frozen, forty-five tons are killed, and five tons may be slaughtered. In this case, is the attribute of killing predominant in the frozen?
The Shaykh : Yes, the attribute of killing is predominant in the imported frozen type. Good; but is it distinguished from the halal? Is the local slaughtered distinguished?
The questioner : Distinguished, yes, this is bought fresh, and this is bought frozen from the markets.
The Shaykh : Good; in that case, it is not permissible to eat this.
The questioner : It is not permissible to eat it, but do we open the field...?
The Shaykh : No, no, this is the first step, then we come to that. This is not permissible to eat. Good; the doubt that our brother mentioned there... so if the proportion is like this.
Another questioner : Regarding the restaurants, Shaykh.
The questioner : No, not the restaurants, I am speaking now about that.
The Shaykh : No, I did not mention restaurants, so you do not comment on the word restaurants coming from here. Our brother here said that it is doubtful. So if the proportion is as you say; why the doubt?
The questioner : I have no doubt.
The Shaykh : Yes, so research the matter for us if you two, so that we may clarify the truth.
The questioner : He says he has doubt about its entry into a specific restaurant. We are speaking at the level of the state.
The Shaykh : But he says he enters the restaurant and there are imported frozen slaughters; so he has doubt about this? ...
The Shaykh : No, there is no interest in it, no interest here in making permissible what Allah has forbidden, ever. And in what He has made lawful, there is sufficiency from what He has forbidden. But the issue that should be looked at in the details you presented is one with precision. If you assume that fifty percent is killed and fifty percent is slaughtered, we are still at the point of doubt. This is the point that does not allow the Muslim scholar to issue a ruling of prohibition unless he stands before a specific slaughtered animal and knows by some means that this one itself is killed and not slaughtered; then he takes the ruling of prohibition. But when you research the matter generally and imagine that fifty percent is halal; meaning some of it is fifty percent halal, and the other fifty percent is haram, and this is not distinguished from that; as I said earlier: we are still at the point of doubt. But if the scale of one of the proportions tips, you take the ruling of the predominant; either permissibility or prohibition. If we say, for example, fifty-five percent is killed, and forty-five percent is slaughtered, it takes the ruling of prohibition; because the haram predominates over the halal.
The questioner : There is more detail.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : It is from here that the distinction comes. Of the frozen meats, ninety percent of them are killed, meaning there is a way to distinguish. The fifty percent is slaughter within slaughter, but large quantities of meat are imported frozen, slaughtered abroad, while the slaughtered is slaughtered in Kuwait, meaning...
The Shaykh : Meaning you intend that what is slaughtered in the country is all slaughtered, but its proportion relative to the imported is fifty percent?
The questioner : Approximately.
The Shaykh : And what is imported is ninety percent?
The questioner : The one that is imported, if we assume the meats... one hundred tons, fifty tons of it is slaughtered locally, and fifty tons is imported frozen. Of the fifty tons imported frozen, forty-five tons are killed, and five tons may be slaughtered. In this case, is the attribute of killing predominant in the frozen?
The Shaykh : Yes, the attribute of killing is predominant in the imported frozen type. Good; but is it distinguished from the halal? Is the local slaughtered distinguished?
The questioner : Distinguished, yes, this is bought fresh, and this is bought frozen from the markets.
The Shaykh : Good; in that case, it is not permissible to eat this.
The questioner : It is not permissible to eat it, but do we open the field...?
The Shaykh : No, no, this is the first step, then we come to that. This is not permissible to eat. Good; the doubt that our brother mentioned there... so if the proportion is like this.
Another questioner : Regarding the restaurants, Shaykh.
The questioner : No, not the restaurants, I am speaking now about that.
The Shaykh : No, I did not mention restaurants, so you do not comment on the word restaurants coming from here. Our brother here said that it is doubtful. So if the proportion is as you say; why the doubt?
The questioner : I have no doubt.
The Shaykh : Yes, so research the matter for us if you two, so that we may clarify the truth.
The questioner : He says he has doubt about its entry into a specific restaurant. We are speaking at the level of the state.
The Shaykh : But he says he enters the restaurant and there are imported frozen slaughters; so he has doubt about this? ...
Source
www.al-albany.com
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