What is the ruling on eating imported meat if it is established that it was slaughtered in a manner not in accordance with the Shari'ah, as stated by al-Mujtama' magazine?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, al-Mujtama' magazine published an article regarding imported meat. They sent a team to the exporting countries, or those exporting to the Gulf states, dealing in imported chicken, meat, and beef. It was established for them that none of it is slaughtered according to the method or the Islamic Shari'ah; it is all done by electric shock or, I mean, by methods that are not...
The Shaykh : ...not prescribed.
The questioner : ...not prescribed.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It was established for them that all this imported meat does not conform to the Islamic Shari'ah. So what is your opinion, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Our view is that this may be true. I do not know if this is a reiteration, because they have spoken about this before. Yes, that is right.
It may be a reiteration; something that can be repeated a second time, unless they mentioned the date that they went in a specific date. In any case, let us suppose it was a week ago. Is it possible for a person to testify about every chicken, or for a person to testify about every sheep, that it is the one slaughtered in a manner other than the prescribed method? Perhaps the factories or slaughterhouses are all operating in a manner other than the prescribed method, but what comes from the Islamic countries, especially with the confirmation, is slaughtered in the Islamic manner.
And I tell you that last year a discussion took place in the Council of Senior Scholars regarding this issue. The ministers' deputies from the Ministry of Commerce were present, and he said: "Absolutely, everything that comes to the Kingdom is guarded, everything is monitored, and it is slaughtered with a true slaughter." Then I tell you: some of the earlier scholars, not the contemporary ones, say: What the People of the Book consider as food for them and slaughter, it is lawful, even if it does not conform to the Islamic method. Because Allah said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:5] So whatever they consider as food from these slaughters, it is lawful, even if it is not slaughtered in the Islamic method, as long as they believe that this method makes it lawful.
But this opinion is weak, and we do not hold to it. We say: If the Muslim is required to slaughter, to drain the blood, and to mention the name of Allah over the slaughtered animal, then the non-Muslim is even more so. And it is not possible for us to eat a slaughter that was shocked with electricity without the blood being drained.
But I told you this in order to lighten the matter, meaning that the matter is not agreed upon by consensus. So we look at the issue now from two angles:
The first angle: That this is not one of the matters upon which there is consensus that the slaughter of the People of the Book must conform to the slaughter of the Muslims. For some of the earlier scholars say: What the People of the Book consider as food and slaughter, it is lawful, whether it is according to our method or not. But this is weak, and we do not hold to it.
Second: I tell you about what comes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Council of Senior Scholars met with the ministers' deputies and investigated with them, and they confirmed to them that nothing comes to the Kingdom except what is monitored.
So whoever is comfortable with this, let him eat in the name of Allah. And whoever is not comfortable with this, praise be to Allah, there is now a lot of chicken slaughtered here in the Kingdom, and one can suffice with that and leave what one doubts about for what one does not doubt about. Yes.
The Shaykh : ...not prescribed.
The questioner : ...not prescribed.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It was established for them that all this imported meat does not conform to the Islamic Shari'ah. So what is your opinion, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Our view is that this may be true. I do not know if this is a reiteration, because they have spoken about this before. Yes, that is right.
It may be a reiteration; something that can be repeated a second time, unless they mentioned the date that they went in a specific date. In any case, let us suppose it was a week ago. Is it possible for a person to testify about every chicken, or for a person to testify about every sheep, that it is the one slaughtered in a manner other than the prescribed method? Perhaps the factories or slaughterhouses are all operating in a manner other than the prescribed method, but what comes from the Islamic countries, especially with the confirmation, is slaughtered in the Islamic manner.
And I tell you that last year a discussion took place in the Council of Senior Scholars regarding this issue. The ministers' deputies from the Ministry of Commerce were present, and he said: "Absolutely, everything that comes to the Kingdom is guarded, everything is monitored, and it is slaughtered with a true slaughter." Then I tell you: some of the earlier scholars, not the contemporary ones, say: What the People of the Book consider as food for them and slaughter, it is lawful, even if it does not conform to the Islamic method. Because Allah said:
and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you
وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَكُمْBut this opinion is weak, and we do not hold to it. We say: If the Muslim is required to slaughter, to drain the blood, and to mention the name of Allah over the slaughtered animal, then the non-Muslim is even more so. And it is not possible for us to eat a slaughter that was shocked with electricity without the blood being drained.
But I told you this in order to lighten the matter, meaning that the matter is not agreed upon by consensus. So we look at the issue now from two angles:
The first angle: That this is not one of the matters upon which there is consensus that the slaughter of the People of the Book must conform to the slaughter of the Muslims. For some of the earlier scholars say: What the People of the Book consider as food and slaughter, it is lawful, whether it is according to our method or not. But this is weak, and we do not hold to it.
Second: I tell you about what comes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Council of Senior Scholars met with the ministers' deputies and investigated with them, and they confirmed to them that nothing comes to the Kingdom except what is monitored.
So whoever is comfortable with this, let him eat in the name of Allah. And whoever is not comfortable with this, praise be to Allah, there is now a lot of chicken slaughtered here in the Kingdom, and one can suffice with that and leave what one doubts about for what one does not doubt about. Yes.