Question re: halal meat

[ChasingPeace]

I have a question concerning halal meat. I recently read that consumption of halal meat is forbidden in the Sikh religion b/c they consider the way the animals are slaughtered to be cruel. What I read said the animals throats are cut and they bleed to death. Could you please give me the Muslim perspective on how halal meat is slaughtered? I'm not looking to debate or to judge, and I mean no disrespect--I'm just trying to learn so I can make informed decisions about what we eat (my dh is Muslim and we currently eat a lot of halal meat). TIA.

[ChasingPeace]

anyone? You could PM me if you don't want to post.

[neveryoumindthere]

i will post when i'm not nak'ing

[mahdokht]

Originally Posted by ChasingPeace

I have a question concerning halal meat. I recently read that consumption of halal meat is forbidden in the Sikh religion b/c they consider the way the animals are slaughtered to be cruel. What I read said the animals throats are cut and they bleed to death. Could you please give me the Muslim perspective on how halal meat is slaughtered? I'm not looking to debate or to judge, and I mean no disrespect--I'm just trying to learn so I can make informed decisions about what we eat (my dh is Muslim and we currently eat a lot of halal meat). TIA.

Bismi Ta'ala

As salaam alaykum CP.

I just noticed that we are both UmmAli's ;0)!

You know, an interesting thing about sikhism is that it has a lot in common with Islam. Amongst other similarities, Sikhs are strict monotheists and alcohol is forbidden. Not only is Halal meat forbidden, but also kosher meat. From my google search it seems that the sikh argument is twofold.

A) The Kosher/Halal (which are pretty similar) method of slaughter is not fast enough and is therefore inhumane and not fit for sikh consumption.

B) and a direct quote " And one semitic practice clearly rejected in the Sikh code of conduct is eating flesh of an animal cooked in ritualistic manner (of course halal meat isn't cooked in any specific way, what differentiates it is the way it is slaughtered-mahdokht); this would mean kosher and halal meat. The reason again does not lie in religious tenet but in the view that killing an animal with a prayer is not going to enoble the flesh. No ritual, whoever conducts it, is going to do any good either to the animal or to the diner. Let man do what he must to assuage his hunger. If what he gets, he puts to good use and shares with the needy, then it is well used and well spent, otherwise not."

I believe that vegetarianism is preferred but not obligatory according to sikhs.

All that being said here are some details on halal meat.

According to the majority of scholars (with some exceptions amongst sunni Muslims) the meat must be slaughtered according to specific rituals in order to be considered fit for Muslim consumption (halal). This is based on the qur'an as well as the practice of the Prophet (saawaws). As a side note, sunni's also believe that all seafood is halal, while shi'a do not consume shellfish or fish w/o scales.

Enough of that you say, on to the nitty gritty!

The Nitty Gritty

Warning GRAPHIC content

It is highly recommended that the animal be petted, talked to, comforted and given water before slaugher. The knife must be as sharp as possible to prevent unneccesary suffering of the animal. The one doing the cutting must say "Bismillah."

If at all possible, the animal should not see the knife. The cutting should be done as quickly as humanly possible and in one stroke the wind pipe, throat and blood vessels in the neck must be cut clean through, but the spinal cord must not be cut. I have been told (but don't know enough about biology to say for sure) that the spinal cord must not be cut because the nerve fibres to the heart could be damaged during the process causing cardiac arrest, stagnating the blood in the blood vessels. Then the blood has to be drained completely before the head is removed.

My Humble Opinion

There is no nice way to kill an animal and have the meat remain edible. Killing an animal for food is inherently an unkind act to the animal. As you may know, Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Rahim is the most common way Muslims invoke the name of God when beginnign something new. It means "In the Name of God the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful". When the zabiha (slaguther) is done it is only "Bismillah" in recognition of the fact that this is not a merciful or compassionate act. According to shi'a jurisprudence it is Makruh (deeply disliked or an action that it is better not to do) to be a butcher. I will speculate that this is because of the spiritual/psychological effects that regularly taking life and handling corpses has on the individual. And despite the madness that is being preached and practiced amongst the most extreme elements of those who claim Islam as their religion, Allah (swt) has ordered us to have a high regard for the life that he has given his creatures.

The inherent unkindness of killing an animal is probably why so many of the worlds great mystics become vegetarians somewhere along the path of their spiritual journey. I hear that it is likely that Jesus (as) was a vegetarian. Imam Ali (as) said "Do not make your stomachs a grave for animals." Prophet Muhammad (saawws) ate and enjoyed meat, but not with every meal. As I mentioned, it is preferred for sikhs not to consume meat. Up until very recently we were a vegtarian family, my husband is still a vegetarian and there are many
Muslim vegetarians.

Please accept my apologies for not answering your quetions more quickly. I don't come to this forum often.

[ChasingPeace]

Alaykum As salaam, UmmAli . Thank you for your very thorough, educational, and thoughtful reply. One of the many things I love about Islam is that it satisfies the intellect as well as the heart, and your reply confirms that. If I can ask another question (to you or to anyone else who knows), is it haram to eat meat that isn't slaughtered in the halal manner? For example, is it OK to eat organic meat? Again, thank you!

[mahdokht]

How about some organic halal meat! I have found an organic farmer in the area who has organic cows as well as a halal market that sells organic chickens. I am planning to get some families together so that we can purchase an organic cow and have one of the men (or women) do the zabiha and then send it to a butcher. With several families going in it should not be too much, and maybe if local halal markets see that there is a demand for organic halal beef, lamb etc. (especially with the mad cow scares) they will begin to carry it themselves.

I will come back to answer the question about halal meat in deatils, but the short answer it depends on your school of thought. All shi'a believe that meat is not halal (permissible) for consumption UNLESS it has been slaughtered in the described manner, the exception being fish, of course you can't kill a fish that way. Amongst sunni scholars there is some disagreement. InshaAllah I will try to come back later with more details on who says what and why.