Is your meat halal?

In order for meat to be halal, the slaughter has to cut at least 2 of the 3 veins in the neck and you have to recite Bismillahi Allahu Akbar when doing the slaughter. Research has shown that this is not happening, rendering the chicken and meat that we consume haram. The ‘halal’ meat industry in the UK is failing to do this for a number of reasons: 

Feeding the animals

Chickens are fed meat – typically, chicken heads and other impure feed. Allah has ordered us in the Quran to eat that which is halal and tayyib (pure). This clearly is not tayyib.

Stunning 

Abattoirs are using the process of stunning the chicken or sheep, etc. before doing the slaughter. When the chicken is stunned, the stun makes the chicken go into a deep shock. Its brain explodes and the brain particles go all over the body of the chicken – a research has shown that there were bits of the chickens’ brain in the legs, wings, etc.  When stunning is carried out about a third of chickens die before the slaughter is even carried out – this renders all those chickens haram! The two third that survive are not tayyib. 

Slaughter 

When doing the zabah, the person has to recite Bismillahi Allahu Akbar for the slaughter to be halal. In abattoirs, there is a target that has to be met i.e. they have to slaughter several thousands per day. They have a conveyor belt so the chickens go along this belt and there are people who do the zabah. Now, this mechanised process is so quick that it is practically impossible for the person to say Bismillahi Allahu Akbar for every chicken – they get around 1.5 seconds to carry out each slaughter! Imagine how many chickens are slaughtered without saying Bismillahi Allahu Akbar – therefore, these chickens are also all haram. 

‘Blessed’ Blades 

To overcome the above problem, some abattoirs have gone a step further in ensuring the meat is absolutely, undeniably haram! Instead of having people doing the zabah, they just have a mechanised blade with the words Bismillahi Allahu Akbar written on them. So now the whole process of the slaughter is mechanised and no humans are involved in the zabah – all the chickens done in this way are haram. 

One recitation of Bismillahi Allahu Akbar  

Another ’solution’ is for the abattoirs to get a ‘moulana’ to come in the morning and say Bismillahi Allahu Akbar once. After this, there is no more Bismillahi Allahu Akbar when doing the slaughtering – again, all the chicken and meat done in this way is totally haram. 

The effects of eating haram 

The Prophet (SAWS) has said that when a person eats even one morsel of haram food then his ibaadah is not accepted for 40 days! The person’s duas are also not accepted. This is regardless of whether the person eats haram knowingly or unknowingly. In other words, if you consume haram just before Ramadhan, your entire month of fasting is of no use as its all void. If you consume haram before Hajj, then your Hajj will not be accepted. This goes for other forms of Ibaadah as well.  

Is it ok for us to accept a butcher’s word that his meat is halal? 

When buying meat or chicken, if the butcher claims that his meat is halal, can you take his word for it?  The answer is no. If we lived in an Islamic state, only then you can accept his word at face value. In today’s reality, it is a duty for each one of us to research the source of the chicken and meat before purchasing – this means checking up on the butcher, his suppliers, the abattoir etc. and we would have to do this before each purchase! As you can imagine, this would be very difficult. 

The Solution 

These are the problems facing Muslims today in regards to eating halal. So what is the solution? How can we ensure that what we are feeding ourselves, our families and our children is halal?  

Alhamdulillah, there is an organisation set up by the ulaama dedicated to ensuring that the whole process from the slaughtering in the abattoirs to selling the meat in the butchers, is halal and according to Shariah. Most of the staff are volunteers or get a small income. They are dedicated to serving the Ummah and ensure that halal really means halal. They have also been nominated as one of the most stringent halal monitoring committees in the world, Alhamdulillah. The halal food committee in Malaysia have requested this organisation to go and advise them. 

This organisation is the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC). They inspect the whole slaughter process everyday. They ensure there is no stunning and the zabah is done correctly. If you want chicken or meat that you can be sure is halal, you should only buy from butchers that are HMC registered or from HMC approved abattoirs. Also, these haram chicken and meat is supplied to takeaways and restaurants. Therefore, do not eat from any food outlet unless it is HMC approved. 

For more information on this and to check for a list of registered butchers, abattoirs, take-aways and restaurants, log on to www.halalmc.co.uk. Pass this information on to others and raise the awareness of HMC in your area.