Can we eat anything from ouside in USA?

Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

can we eat anything from ouside in USA? or we should always ask if its halaal or haraam? can we say allahhuakbar on chicken and beef meat from outside and eat it?

 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

 

Answer:

 

Meat in usa say bismillah and eat

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

If a few conditions (which are listed below) can be met, then the meat served in predominantly Christian nations like the USA can be termed halaal.  It does not matter if the meat is beef, or lamb, or chicken, or any of the halaal animals, the terms remain the same.

 

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5:

All the good and pure things have today been made ‘halaal’ for you; the food of the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) is ‘halaal’ for you,  and your food for them.

 

It is evident from the above aayah of the Holy Quran that the food of the People of the Book (Jews and the Christians) is halaal for the believers.   Some people say that the People of the Book today commit ‘shirk’ and since the food of the mushriks is ‘haraam’,  therefore the food slaughtered by the People of the Book is also ‘haraam’.   This deduction is incorrect,  as the Quran itself condemns the Jews and Christians for invoking their Prophets as the son of Allah and thus committing shirk.   But Allah has made the food of the People of the Book halaal as seen in the above aayah of Surah Maidah in the Holy Quran.

 

If the below five conditions are met, the food served by the People of the Book will be deemed halaal for the believers.

 

1.      The animal itself should be halaal in Shariah.  (Even if a muslim (Allah forbid) were to slaughter swine,  it will not make it halaal!!).

2.      The one who slaughters the animal must either be a Muslim, or a Jew or a Christian.   If any other person slaughters the animal, it will not be considered halaal.

3.      The animal has to be slaughtered and the blood should be oozed out naturally.   It does not matter if the animal is slaughtered by hand or by a machine, from the front of the neck or from the back.   What is important is that the veins must be cut to allow the blood to be oozed out of the body.

4.      The animal should have been alive at the time of slaughter.   It is a routine in most slaughterhouses in the West, that they electrocute or sting the animal with an electric shock, and then slaughter the animal.   That is fine, as long as one is satisfied that the electric shock did not kill the animal before its slaughter!

5.      The condition that Allah’s name has to be pronounced is not a condition for the People of the Book,  as long as nobody else’s’ name is pronounced.   If anybody else’s name other than Allah is pronounced at the time of slaughter, it does not matter who slaughters the animal, that meat is haraam.

 

Your Question: can we eat anything from ouside in USA?

One can eat any food from the vegetation kingdom and from the sea anywhere in the world, including the USA; but before one wishes to eat any meat product (excluding sea-food), one must make sure it fulfills the criteria of being ‘halaal’ or lawful in Shariah. 

 

Provided the food does not violate any of the above listed five conditions of slaughter, it would be considered lawful food for the believers to consume.

 

Your Question: or we should always ask if its halaal or haraam?

If one has any reason to doubt that the food being presented to them in unlawful or might be haraam in Shariah, one who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day must ask and confirm its permissibility in Shariah before putting even a morsel of that food into their stomachs.

 

Your Question: can we say allahhuakbar on chicken and beef meat from outside and eat it?

Dear and beloved brother, Islam has laid down specific and clear conditions for slaughter which alone would make that flesh halaal for the believers to consume.  The simple saying of ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ or ‘Bismillah’ by itself on any food which is ‘haraam’ or not slaughtered according to Shariah does not make the food lawful in the Sight of Shariah and of Allah Subhanah. 

 

The flesh of all land and air creatures must, and I repeat, must be slaughtered according to Shariah guidelines for it to be considered halaal food for the believers.

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

 

 

Burhan

 

 
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