Ruling on Eating Imported Meats
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Question:
We find many meats that have been slaughtered and imported from non-Islamic countries. Do we eat them without thinking about the method of slaughter?
Answer:
If the meats are from the lands of the People of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, there is nothing wrong with it; because Allah has permitted us their food, and their food is their slaughtered animals, so there is no barrier to eating from them if we do not know what prevents us from doing so. However, if we know that they were slaughtered by strangulation or by striking the heads with hammers and the like, or with guns, or by electrocution, we do not eat them.
It has reached us from many quarters from the da'wah workers affiliated with the General Presidency for Scholarly Research and Ifta... affiliated with us, that it has reached us from a group of them that many slaughterhouses slaughter in a manner other than the Shari'ah way in America and in Europe. So if the believer exercises caution and does not eat from these meats, that is better and safer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 5711Sahih (Darussalam), Bulugh al-Maram 16:32.
So the believer exercises caution regarding his food. If he buys the animal alive, an animal from the chickens or the sheep, and slaughters it himself, that is more appropriate and better. Or if he buys from known butchers who slaughter in the Shari'ah way, that is better for him and safer for him, because the imported meats may be from unsound slaughterhouses. As for prohibition, it is not prohibited except by evidence, except by certainty, but this is from the category of leaving what is doubtful.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good. If the packages of these meats, Your Eminence, are written on them "slaughtered in the Islamic way"?
The Shaykh: Even if it is written on them, because they may be lenient with this... their goods with these writings, leniency may occur in them, unless one knows that this meat is from a known slaughterhouse that slaughters in the Shari'ah way, then there is nothing wrong. But as long as he does not know that, and it is only sold in the markets like this, caution is to leave it, and the best for the believer is to be scrupulous about itSunan an-Nasa'i 5711Sahih (Darussalam) due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Bulugh al-Maram 16:32.
The presenter: May Allah bless you. So the first thing, as I understood from Your Eminence, is to turn to locally produced goods?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The presenter: May Allah bless you.
We find many meats that have been slaughtered and imported from non-Islamic countries. Do we eat them without thinking about the method of slaughter?
Answer:
If the meats are from the lands of the People of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, there is nothing wrong with it; because Allah has permitted us their food, and their food is their slaughtered animals, so there is no barrier to eating from them if we do not know what prevents us from doing so. However, if we know that they were slaughtered by strangulation or by striking the heads with hammers and the like, or with guns, or by electrocution, we do not eat them.
It has reached us from many quarters from the da'wah workers affiliated with the General Presidency for Scholarly Research and Ifta... affiliated with us, that it has reached us from a group of them that many slaughterhouses slaughter in a manner other than the Shari'ah way in America and in Europe. So if the believer exercises caution and does not eat from these meats, that is better and safer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.
دع ما يريبك إلى ما لا يريبكSo he, who saves himself from these doubtful things, saves his religion and his honor
من اتقى الشبهات فقد استبرأ لدينه وعرضهSo the believer exercises caution regarding his food. If he buys the animal alive, an animal from the chickens or the sheep, and slaughters it himself, that is more appropriate and better. Or if he buys from known butchers who slaughter in the Shari'ah way, that is better for him and safer for him, because the imported meats may be from unsound slaughterhouses. As for prohibition, it is not prohibited except by evidence, except by certainty, but this is from the category of leaving what is doubtful.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good. If the packages of these meats, Your Eminence, are written on them "slaughtered in the Islamic way"?
The Shaykh: Even if it is written on them, because they may be lenient with this... their goods with these writings, leniency may occur in them, unless one knows that this meat is from a known slaughterhouse that slaughters in the Shari'ah way, then there is nothing wrong. But as long as he does not know that, and it is only sold in the markets like this, caution is to leave it, and the best for the believer is to be scrupulous about it
Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.
دع ما يريبك إلى ما لا يريبكSo he, who saves himself from these doubtful things, saves his religion and his honor
من اتقى الشبهات فقد استبرأ لدينه وعرضهThe presenter: May Allah bless you. So the first thing, as I understood from Your Eminence, is to turn to locally produced goods?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The presenter: May Allah bless you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.