Question:
Assalamu alaykum,
We did read the previous posts pertaining to the issue, nevertheless we want to ask: I’ve been abstaining from meat for most of the time because there’s no eligible butchers and we cannot slaughter ourselves. Now the work situation becomes more exigent and I feel a much stronger need and appetite for meat.
On one hand, there are Turkish/Arabic supermarkets. We cannot say whether they’re trustworthy (they sell cigarettes for instance), we don’t know if the halal-labels are trustworthy either – rather it can be assumed that the upbringing of the animals and the slaughterhouses are not animal-friendly; that it’s GM, treated with chemicals/hormones/preservatives. Sadly, everything against MSN’s teachings of being in harmony with nature.
On the other hand, the non-Muslim supermarkets sell organic chicken and beef. One can assume that the animals are treated better, but the slaughtering might miss religious standards.
Please advise.
Allah bless you
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
This is an important topic of which there is much discussion. On the one hand there are many fatwas from Ahl as-Sunnah scholars that say Muslims can eat the meat of People of the Book and since they don’t hear the name other than Allah being recited over the meat, then the meat is permissible.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim has told people who do not have access to halal meat to recite the shahada over the meat 3x’s and then recite Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem and eat it.
However, we also heard it said from our shuyukh many times the hadith that “the person who revives my sunnah in the last days will be rewarded with the reward of 70 martyrs” and “The one holding fast to the religion in such times is like holding onto a burning coal”, so it is the believer’s INTENTION to be keeping the Sunnah and eating halal meat that earns him/her the reward and heavenly emanations. The exact nature of the meat and whether it is really halal or not is not the responsibility of the consumer, it is the intention that matters. In fact many report that they feel a strong sense of commitment to “eating halal” because of the baraka and support they feel from the practice.
Allah knows best and it is up to you to decide.
Dr. Aziz Hussein
