Assalamalicum
I want to ask you a question, as you know that I was in Canada for vacations, whenever I go there a dispute regarding chicken is being discussed. I never took much interest in it but in your tasawuf book there was a Hadith from Bukhari, Kitab of Zabaih in which we are given permission to eat meat after saying bismillah if we are not sure if the slaughtering was done appropriately and then I kept on reading and found many Hadiths permitting different methods of slaughtering, eating meat sold by Christians etc. I want to know:
1. Where does some scholars draw there ruling that we can’t eat Christian and Jewish meat if there are permitting Hadiths in Bukhari?
2. Some scholars allow chicken from Christians and Jews but not beef, why.?
3. What’s your personal opinion?
Please give me ur answe whenever u can, I know u r busy.
Faraz
USA
June 2012
Dear Brother
Wa alaikum us salam wa Rahmatullah
Such Hadith is applicable in those cases where there is doubt about something. If it is confirmed that some Non-Muslim has slaughtered an animal and we know that they do not care about the Islamic way of slaughtering, we should avoid it. Doubt is usually possible where Muslims and Non-Muslims are in comparable proportions. In countries like Canada, mostly animals are slaughtered by non-Muslims except if it is explicitly mentioned as Halal.
There is a difference between Jews and Christians. Jews follow the Shari’ah of Torah which is almost the same as the Islamic Shari’ah in slaughtering. So it is permissible to eat the animal slaughtered by them whether beef, mutton or chicken. Christians do not follow the Shari’ah so we do not know how they are slaughtering, so we should avoid it unless we know that they slaughter according to the Law of Torah. This is my personal opinion and many scholars have the same.
About the views mentioned by you, I have not read anything. Can you please give me reference of these views? It may be possible that they have said something based on their experience as our opinion is based on our experience.
Wassalam
Mubashir
Dear Brother
Wa alaikum us salam wa Rahmatullah
Such Hadith is applicable in those cases where there is doubt about something. If it is confirmed that some Non-Muslim has slaughtered an animal and we know that they do not care about the Islamic way of slaughtering, we should avoid it. Doubt is usually possible where Muslims and Non-Muslims are in comparable proportions. In countries like Canada, mostly animals are slaughtered by non-Muslims except if it is explicitly mentioned as Halal.
There is a difference between Jews and Christians. Jews follow the Shari’ah of Torah which is almost the same as the Islamic Shari’ah in slaughtering. So it is permissible to eat the animal slaughtered by them whether beef, mutton or chicken. Christians do not follow the Shari’ah so we do not know how they are slaughtering, so we should avoid it unless we know that they slaughter according to the Law of Torah. This is my personal opinion and many scholars have the same.
About the views mentioned by you, I have not read anything. Can you please give me reference of these views? It may be possible that they have said something based on their experience as our opinion is based on our experience.
Wassalam
Mubashir
Very sorry to hear about the commercialization of religion. Islam is very simple and easy but our religious people making it complicated for their personal advantage.
We find that the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم was very lenient in these matters and always suggested easy solutions. You are right that Islam made the law of previous nations easy and the Quran has called it إصر وإغلال i.e. handcuffs and chains.
In this particular case, I shall advise you to refrain from the slaughter of Christians until you know that they are doing so according to the Law of Torah. In the time of the Prophet, Jews and Christians were Arabized and they used to follow the practice of the Jewish or Muslim law. Even present-day Christian Arabs follow Islamic teachings in many ways. In my opinion, if you are buying from the shop of a reliable Muslim / Jew and he tells you that it is halal / kosher, it is enough and there is no need to go for further investigation or demanding a certificate. So try your best to buy from Muslim hotels. However, if you have doubt due to some reason, you can ask for certificate.
Wassalam
Mubashir
Don’t hesitate to share your questions and comments. They will be highly appreciated. I’ll reply ASAP if I know the answer. Send at mubashirnazir100@gmail.com.