What is your advice to one who is cautious about eating imported meat?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Your Eminence, what is the ruling on what some people do in being cautious about not eating imported meat?
The Shaykh : By Allah, if the doubt is strong in his mind, there is nothing wrong with it; this is a matter of scrupulousness. But if it is merely a baseless suspicion, as is the reality, then he is mistaken, mistaken. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked by a group of people who said:Sahih al-Bukhari 2057 Aisha, the narrator of the hadith, said: Yet he said: "Say the name of Allah and eat." As if he were saying: It is not upon you to ask about the actions of others; ask about your own actions. The action of others is the slaughter, and that is finished. Your action is the eating. So say the name of Allah. And the common case, especially in Saudi Arabia, is that the one who refrains does so based on a baseless suspicion, not a reality. For what we heard in the session of the Council of Senior Scholars from the Minister of Commerce and those involved in this matter is that nothing is sent to Saudi Arabia except meat slaughtered in the Islamic manner with the name of Allah invoked. And everything. Yes.
As for what is circulated that they found cartons labeled "slaughtered in the Islamic manner" when it was actually fish, I do not know about the truth of this. And if it is true, perhaps those who pack it there are people who do not know the Arabic language, and they have fish and they have chicken, and they put this in this and that in that. Yes.
The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Neither the right nor the left. Yes.
The Shaykh : By Allah, if the doubt is strong in his mind, there is nothing wrong with it; this is a matter of scrupulousness. But if it is merely a baseless suspicion, as is the reality, then he is mistaken, mistaken. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked by a group of people who said:
O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Meat is brought to us by some people and we are not sure whether the name of Allah has been mentioned on it or not (at the time of slaughtering the animals)." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said (to them), "Mention the name of Allah and eat it."
يا رسول الله إن قوما يأتوننا باللحم لا ندري أذكروا اسم الله عليه أم لا ؟ فقال : سموا أنتم وكلواAnd they were recent converts from disbelief
وكانوا حديثي عهد بكفرAs for what is circulated that they found cartons labeled "slaughtered in the Islamic manner" when it was actually fish, I do not know about the truth of this. And if it is true, perhaps those who pack it there are people who do not know the Arabic language, and they have fish and they have chicken, and they put this in this and that in that. Yes.
The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Neither the right nor the left. Yes.