HALAL MEAT YES OR NO ACCORDING TO THE QURAN!

[The_dip_sticks 0]

Hi all,

This new topic is about halal meat and how its followed by MOST muslims (95%) and how it's really to be followed according to the Quran.

This will be a contrivesial blog and if you are a follower of the hadith than its not for you. If you want to follow TRUE Islam, which is the Quran alone this should be very enlightening.

I do also hope that the followers of the hadith take it into consideration.

Just a point to add here, Im putting up some religious discussions as I think it's quite relevant as many non- muslim or ex non muslim men or women on here are married to muslims.

As muslims we must respect christians and understand they were given scriptures from God and the word of God does not change, many muslims ask so why is it that christians DONT eat halal meat. My argument is that many christians DO eat halal food and many muslims DONT, even though they THINK they do.

What is halal food according to many muslims: Halal food or meat as they put it, is to say God's name over the animal as it is being slaughtered, some even go as far as to say the animal should be facing mecca as its being slaughtered in the halal way... hmmm... lets examine the Quran.

"He only prohibits for you the eating of animals that die of themselves (without human interference), blood, the meat of pigs, and animals dedicated to other than GOD. If one is forced (to eat these), without being malicious or deliberate, he incurs no sin. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful."[2:173]

The above statement seems to fit the hadith followers way, but it has no mention of slaughtering, also as ive stated before in another blog the Quran is to be followed as a whole rather than taking one verse. God with his infinite wisdom knows that many muslims would be living with christians and Jews and the next verse gives us a further clue

"Today, all good food is made lawful for you. The food of the people of the scripture (Jews & Christians) is LAWFUL (HALAL) for you......"5:5

We know that Jews slaughter their meat like the muslims by pronouncing God's name on it making it 'Kosher' but as far as I know, no christian does that, yet the Quran says "ALL" good food of christians and Jews is made lawful.

Further......

"You shall eat from that upon which God's name has been pronounced, if you truly believe in His revelation." 6:118

The above verse states that "you shall eat from that upon which God's name has been pronounced" it does not talk about meat specificaly but anything you eat. So it's clear that many muslims have substituted God's condition for making food lawful (which is through uttering God's name on it before eating it) by saying that halal meat is only lawful by pronouncing Gods name while an animal is being slaughtered. The following argument should debunk their way of thinking...

The first reason is (unless you are a butcher) you are not the person that slaughtered the animal, and God clearly states that we alone are accountable to what we do as stated in the Quran. So the only way to be 100% sure that God's name has been uttered on the meat is if we do it ourselves before eating it.

"Every human being is responsible only for his own works." 53:39

The reason for uttering Gods name is because of the following:

"Therefore, you shall eat from God's provisions everything that is lawful and good, and BE APPRECIATIVE OF GOD'S BLESSINGS, if you do worship Him alone." 16:114

This act of appreciation would not really be heart felt unless we utter it ourselves. Also once again it is not mentioning meat per say but anything we eat, so if we have a vegetarian dinner God's name should still be uttered to make it halal!

So in conclusion REAL halal meat is anything we eat we have a duty to be appreciative and say his name before eating it. This is infact the equivelent of a christian saying grace before eating their food, so in effect they are making their food halal. Many muslims neglect this and think the meat is already halal because someone else has uttered God's name before slaughtering it, I challenge any muslim to find in the Quran where it says you must eat meat only if someone has said Gods name before its slaughtered??... it simply isnt in there!

They are just getting this stuff from the hadith.

The hadith were written by men and because in those times when hadiths were written some 200 - 300 years after the prophet passing many muslims were converts from judaism, christianity and paganism and many of the jewish traditions can be found in the hadiths... i.e the slaughtering of food. Even stoning as a punishment has nothing to do with Islam but was in fact a Jewish cultural tradition (as written in their historical books) and somehow found its way in the man made corrupted hadiths.

Constructive feedback would be nice.

Adiel (Mireya's hubby)

[Carolyn 1]

So, basically all food is halal as long as you say "bismillah" before eating it? Excluding pork, of course.

Interesting...

A related question: I wonder why Islam and Judaism agree on not eating pork, but disagree on shellfish (Kosher prohibits it)?

[slbois 0]

We (my study group) just had this conversation with our Imam last week.

We all agreed that all meat is halal (excluding pork) as long as the name of God is invoked before eating it. I had always believed the contrary so I never bothered asking. The first thing I did was go get a hamburger! It had been soooooo long.

[bszoom42 0]

That makes sense in that saying gods name before eating makes the food halal. But then again, I am by no means an expert in the Quran.

The real question I want to know is this. How confident are you in your interpretation? In other words, it is easy to say this as a discussion point, but is this what you actually do?

[The_dip_sticks 0]

So, basically all food is halal as long as you say "bismillah" before eating it? Excluding pork, of course.

Interesting...

A related question: I wonder why Islam and Judaism agree on not eating pork, but disagree on shellfish (Kosher prohibits it)?

Hi,

thanks for the response. Actualy as far as pork goes yes its prohibited in Islam and Judaism, in Judaism because the old testement clearly states as does the Quran that it is unclean. It SHOULD also be prohoibited in christianity but the christians argue (it is infact an extremely weak argument with no basis) that pork is allowed because saint Paul had a dream that God made all animals clean. This argument is flawed first of all SAINT Paul, he is supposidly a saint not a prophet, only prophets have direct communication with God hence why they are called prophets, secondly why would God change his words, I thought he is all mighty all knowing, the truth is he NEVER changes his words only HUMANS do. Third if all animals are clean Im yet to find christians eating rat burgers or a dog burger. Fourth Jesus clearly states in matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Adiel (Mireys hubby)

[The_dip_sticks 0]

That makes sense in that saying gods name before eating makes the food halal. But then again, I am by no means an expert in the Quran.

The real question I want to know is this. How confident are you in your interpretation? In other words, it is easy to say this as a discussion point, but is this what you actually do?

yes its what i do. Im confident enogh in that I trust in God.

Adiel (Mireya's hubby)

[mybackpages 0]

Adiel, I am with you in this interpretation. Islam is meant not to be a burden. Islam does not draw divisions between Muslims christians and Jews as we all the same people of the same God and most importantly God is compassionate.

Why so many people want to make Islam about food, hijab and alcohol is beyond me? surely there are more important ways to show your faith.

[The_dip_sticks 0]

Adiel, I am with you in this interpretation. Islam is meant not to be a burden. Islam does not draw divisions between Muslims christians and Jews as we all the same people of the same God and most importantly God is compassionate.

Why so many people want to make Islam about food, hijab and alcohol is beyond me? surely there are more important ways to show your faith.

You are absolutely correct. But many of the nonsense is hadith based, not Quran and 95% of muslims follow hadith.

I just feel so blessed I was born in the west and it gave me the freedom and sense to ask questions when i was just a kid.

Adiel (Mireya's hubby)

[mybackpages 0]

I just feel so blessed I was born in the west and it gave me the freedom and sense to ask questions when i was just a kid.

Adiel (Mireya's hubby)

I had to laugh at the irony of this. People love to point the many muslims drink alcohol, cheat, dont pray daily etc. as if this is the measurement of what is wrong with the muslim world. IMO I'd point to the lackadaisical polices and attidudes towards education as being essential to the problems in Muslim societies. a Muslim should not have to be born in the West to have access to the educaion and freedoms that Islam gives.

[deemabrouk 0]

actually I disagree with you all...

I dont think Just simply saying Bismillah makes is Halal...

the guidelines are QUIET CLEAR on what makes a "halal Slaughter"

and I KNOW most of the slaughter houses here in the US are NO WHERE near being HALAL

I also bring this up at Eid al Adha too... that it ends up being a blood bath.. not a proper Halal Sacrifice

[mybackpages 0]

I think the guidelines for halal slaughter are quite clear also. But I do not limit my thinking that halal is limited to "halal"...what I mean is halal only means lawful. And what is lawful IMO is wider than what is generally narrowerly seen as halal.

I don't think saying "in the name of God" is like POOF! your food is halal so POOF! now I can eat anything. BUT I do not see anything that prohibits a more progressive interpretation of these parameters set by God in the Quran.

[sara535 15]

My husband when he first got here asked around and studied up quite a bit on this subject and got a wide variety of answers. In the end he decided he is more comfortable going to the halal butcher store and trying to stick with actual Halal slaughtered meats. I dont mind at all even though where we live now is a bit of a drive to the meat store, but I find that the meats tend to be both fresher and cheaper. The only thing I miss is there is a very limited selection of the cuts of beef, however we can ask for what we want and usually it will be there next time for us. As for eating out, we will either go to a halal restaurant or he will eat some kind of fish, pretty much everywhere has good fish dishes these days. Outback Steakhouse uses halal lamb, and about a month ago a good halal middle eastern restuaraunt even opened up in our little town, their lamb kebobs and chicken schwarma are delicious! When we travel we just go to zabihah halal guide and print out the guide for the city where we will be. We've found some great restauraunts that way.....

[maggieNomar 0]

actually I disagree with you all...

I dont think Just simply saying Bismillah makes is Halal...

the guidelines are QUIET CLEAR on what makes a "halal Slaughter"

and I KNOW most of the slaughter houses here in the US are NO WHERE near being HALAL

I also bring this up at Eid al Adha too... that it ends up being a blood bath.. not a proper Halal Sacrifice

Dee,

Where do your beliefs/interpretations on this come from? I am not asking to argue, but because I have wondered about this (halal) myself. Now we have two sides here (the OP and yours).

I had never heard of Halal meat before and I was previously married to a muslim. He would just say bismillah before he ate, which I thought was like a blessing. Shortly before my husband came he asked about Halal meat and I near went into shock, learning that I was going to have to change the way I shopped. I have found the Halal meat to be expensive and limited, and not easily obtained. But I do it for him.

Thanks to the OP for opening this topic.

[deemabrouk 0]

just as a quickly.. as slightly lazy to fully get going with a debate

http://www.jucanada.org/halalguidelines.htm

http://www.halalmc.co.uk/resources/issue_stunning.html

http://www.halalmc.co.uk/resources/mechanical_slaughter.html

"Halal" is an Arabic word that means ‘lawful’. In Islam certain things are lawful and other things are not. The latter are called ‘haram’ and include things such as drinking alcohol, sex outside marriage and eating animals that are not herbivores (such as pigs).

When talking about halal meat we are talking about meat which is lawful for a Muslim to eat, i.e. the animal has been treated and slaughtered in a manner that has been deemed appropriate by God.

Halal not only refers to the actual slaughter of the animal but is also tied in to the welfare of the animal as well as the state of mind, body and soul of the person taking that animal’s life.

So what makes meat halal?

The principles of halal can be split into 3 areas;

The actual slaughter

The welfare of the animal

The state of the slaughterer.

The Slaughter

The following procedures constitute the ideal procedure for slaughtering an animal…

The animal is given a drink of water and is to be placed lying down facing Mecca

The animal must be calmed

The animal is not allowed to see other animals going to slaughter or being slaughtered and ideally not let to smell other animals’ blood

The animal can at no time see the knife

The knife must be razor sharp

A prayer must be read and the intention to take the animal’s life for the correct reasons must be made

The neck must be slit in one clean pull of the knife cutting through the skin and oesophagus right to the back of the neck

The animal must be held securely until all life has left it

These methods are used as they are believed to be the kindest and most effective way of slaughtering.

Stunning is not the considered as an ideal method of slaughtering but some Islamic scholars have permitted it. Therefore much of the halal meat in the UK is stunned and bled just like any other meat. The only difference is that halal meat would be cut by a Muslim.

The Welfare

The Quran, along with the Torah and Bible, is one of the original animal rights texts. In addition, many of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad demand that Muslims treat animals mercifully and with kindness. In one he says, "God calls for mercy in everything, so be merciful when you kill and when you slaughter: sharpen your blade to relieve its pain".

Technically speaking, Islam opposes battery and intense farming as they are seen as an exploitation of animals. Therefore from birth to death an animal should be reared and cared for in a natural and stress-free environment.

The State of the Slaughterer

The act of taking an animal’s life is called a "sacrifice". This points to the fact that within Islam an an

[deemabrouk 0]

just as a quickly.. as slightly lazy to fully get going with a debate

http://www.jucanada.org/halalguidelines.htm

http://www.halalmc.co.uk/resources/issue_stunning.html

http://www.halalmc.co.uk/resources/mechanical_slaughter.html

"Halal" is an Arabic word that means ‘lawful’. In Islam certain things are lawful and other things are not. The latter are called ‘haram’ and include things such as drinking alcohol, sex outside marriage and eating animals that are not herbivores (such as pigs).

When talking about halal meat we are talking about meat which is lawful for a Muslim to eat, i.e. the animal has been treated and slaughtered in a manner that has been deemed appropriate by God.

Halal not only refers to the actual slaughter of the animal but is also tied in to the welfare of the animal as well as the state of mind, body and soul of the person taking that animal’s life.

So what makes meat halal?

The principles of halal can be split into 3 areas;

The actual slaughter

The welfare of the animal

The state of the slaughterer.

The Slaughter

The following procedures constitute the ideal procedure for slaughtering an animal…

The animal is given a drink of water and is to be placed lying down facing Mecca

The animal must be calmed

The animal is not allowed to see other animals going to slaughter or being slaughtered and ideally not let to smell other animals’ blood

The animal can at no time see the knife

The knife must be razor sharp

A prayer must be read and the intention to take the animal’s life for the correct reasons must be made

The neck must be slit in one clean pull of the knife cutting through the skin and oesophagus right to the back of the neck

The animal must be held securely until all life has left it

These methods are used as they are believed to be the kindest and most effective way of slaughtering.

Stunning is not the considered as an ideal method of slaughtering but some Islamic scholars have permitted it. Therefore much of the halal meat in the UK is stunned and bled just like any other meat. The only difference is that halal meat would be cut by a Muslim.

The Welfare

The Quran, along with the Torah and Bible, is one of the original animal rights texts. In addition, many of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad demand that Muslims treat animals mercifully and with kindness. In one he says, "God calls for mercy in everything, so be merciful when you kill and when you slaughter: sharpen your blade to relieve its pain".

Technically speaking, Islam opposes battery and intense farming as they are seen as an exploitation of animals. Therefore from birth to death an animal should be reared and cared for in a natural and stress-free environment.

The State of the Slaughterer

The act of taking an animal’s life is called a "sacrifice". This points to the fact that within Islam an animal’s life is seen as no less worthy than any other creature’s. The giving up of an animal’s life is a privilege not a right. The one slaughtering must be aware at a physical, mental and spiritual level that the act they are about to commit is serious and should not be approached nonchalantly.