Transcription
Uh, Shik, recently, uh, in a video, you were asked about the permissibility of eating at McDonald's or Burger King in the West. And this has caused a lot of controversy among the layman, in which, uh, reputable dies even have been put on the spot to try to refute this fatwa. Um, in which they claimed that they have had actually seen in slaughterhouses how, uh, animals were being killed, in which they claimed that they saw, saw with their own eyes, that, uh, chickens were, uh, being killed with a nail gun, and that this is dead meat, and this, this meat goes to, uh, various fast food chains.
Now, the question is, um, and, and many of the layman in the comments sections, and there's people making videos of this, you know, they're saying that America is not even a Christian country, as they separated, uh, the state from church, and the majority of America are atheists. Um, so, um, what defines a Christian country? I mean, we don't even know the religion of the butcher or how the animal was slaughtered.
Okay, I, I, I got your question, inshallah, and I will answer it. But unfortunately, this may take a while. And unfortunately, people have the tendency to jump the gun, and this is not wise, and this is not logical. If you don't know, you should ask. Well, this goes the same with you. Sheh, you did not know, you should also ask. Okay, I agree.
So, let us look at the meats, the meat of animals that we're allowed to eat. Now, we're not talking about pork, because this is known to all that is haram. We're not talking about dogs or lions and the likes, because we know this is. We're talking about the normal, uh, uh, beef, mutton, and, uh, buffaloes and camels and the likes. How can we eat such meat? One, it has to be slaughtered. Two, the slaughterer, the butcher, has to be either a Muslim or someone who's a Jew or a Christian. Only these three denominations, nothing else. Three, we have to make sure that, or at least we have to not know whether the name of other than Allah was mentioned or not.
So, if we look at these conditions, we will find that, number one, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned in the Quran, in ayah number five, chapter number five, that today, what was, were made halal for you, and the meat that was slaughtered by the people of the book. Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and his father, made gave the fatwa. So, we know that whatever meat that is slaughtered by the people of the book is halal for us to consume. Another verse says, "Do not eat from what the name of Allah was not mentioned over."
So, people say, "Ah, we don't know if the name of Allah was mentioned over this slaughtering or not." No problem. There's an authentic hadith in the Sahih where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was asked by a group of his companions, "There are people who send us meat, and we don't know whether they mention the name of Allah or not." A clear hadith. "We don't know." The Prophet said, "You mention the name of Allah." Meaning, before you eat, you say, "Bismillah," and eat. The Prophet did not ask them to go and check. That would have been the easiest thing to do. You don't know they mentioned the name of Allah, ask them. No, the Prophet did not ask them to ask. So, this is the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Now, when Allah tells us that the meat which was slaughtered by the people of the book, the Prophet did not ask them to investigate, "Did you slaughter or not?" Some would say, "He should." We, we don't have to ask, Sheh. This is the default. People of the book, they, the meat they eat, it should be slaughtered. Whether they slaughtered it or not, we don't have to ask. And this is what's stated. May Allah have mercy on his soul. Either we know that surely this was not slaughtered and it was killed through other means of slaughtering other than slaughtering, such as if we know that a country like Belgium, for example, they have a regulation that no slaughterhouse can slaughter. They have to electrify until the animal is totally cold stone dead, or bang it on the head with a hammer until it's dead, not alive. And this is a regulation, a rule in the country. No one can defy it. In this case, eating meat there is haram because we know.
But if there isn't such a law, and some may do this, some may not. Should I investigate? Says, "If you know for certain that this was not slaughtered, it's haram for you to eat. If you know for certain that it was slaughtered by a Muslim, a Jew, or a Christian, it is halal for you to eat. If, number three, you don't know whether it was slaughtered or not, but the country you're in is predominantly a Christian country, then you eat without asking." Why don't I have to investigate? Says, "No, because the Prophet did not order us to investigate." When the companions came and said, "Said, oh Prophet of Allah, there are people, whether Muslims or people of the, uh, book, that bring us food, and we don't know whether they mention the name of Allah on it or not." He said, "You mention the name of Allah and eat."
So, now we come to problem number one, Sheh. There are slaughterhouses that hit the animal on the head before, uh, cutting it into pieces. And I've seen this with my own eyes. I'll say, "Okay, number one, can you testify in front of Allah that all slaughterhouses in LA or in New York City do not slaughter? That they all kill the animal cold dead before cutting it and and and chopping it? Can you testify in front of Allah?" He said, "No, I went to 10 of them. How many left?" "Oh, maybe a thousand." So, you cannot generalize in, in Islam. We can't generalize by assumption. This is point number one.
Number two, there are many slaughterhouses in the States and elsewhere where they would electrify the animals so that it would stun it, not kill it. It can be handled. It makes it drowsy, and they can slaughter it without a problem. This is halal. It's not dead. Yes, if it was electrified until it was dead totally, then slaughtered, this is haram. If it is was hit on a head with a needle or with a hammer and it was killed, then slaughtered, this is haram. I agree. But this is not the default. The default is whatever Christians come and present us with is halal until proven otherwise.
Okay, Sheh, one other doubt which the sister mentioned, these countries are not Christian. How do you say this? Because so many of them are atheists. Is in the constitution that the president has to be Christian, whether Catholic or Protestant, doesn't make a difference. So, this is what's mentioned in the constitution, and they are predominantly Christians. Yeah. Yeah. But they say they're Christians, but they're not. Sheh, I'm not supposed to give a placement test for each and every slaughterhouse. Answer these questions to verify whether they're Christians or not. What are they? Christians. Ask anyone. The UK, the US, Europe, they're Christians. There are huge amounts of atheists, but that does not reverse the rule. Allah says, "It's permissible for you to eat the meat that was slaughtered by the people of the book." He didn't go and say, "Ask and make, um, a survey whether they're Christians or not."
Likewise, if I go to Pakistan, predominantly Muslims, there are non-Muslims, deviant groups, mushrikin, without calling the sects and cults, grave worshippers, kafir. So, um, what about Turkey? A secular country, 10, 15% Alawites, atheists, don't know the Quran, don't know even the direction of the Qibla. I can't eat in Turkey. Oh, no, no. It's a predominantly Muslim country. Um, they're Muslims. Okay. How would I know that they're practicing Muslims or grave worshippers or non-Muslims? Again, the default is, they're Christians. They're people of the book.
And the beautiful thing is, verse five, Surah five, mentions two things: the meat slaughtered by the people of the book, and the women of the people of the book. And in both, it says we are allowed to consume the meat slaughtered, and we are allowed to marry women from the Christianity and Juda, uh, Jewish beliefs. Now, are you going to say the same thing when a man comes to you and says, "Sheh, I'm marrying an American woman or a British or a German." Would you say, "No, they're not Christians." Or would you ask him to make a placement test? Or would you say, "Okay, yeah, they're Christians. It's okay." Touche. It's the same thing, same concept.
Okay, Sheh, but they did not mention the name of Allah. Scholars said that what was meant by the ayah is that you do not hear other than the name of Allah mentioned in the name of Jesus, in the name of Buddha, in the name of this and that. Oh, now it becomes haram for sure. Because likewise, all meat slaughtered in Muslim countries, I do not go to slaughterhouses and say, "Let me hear you say the name of Allah, or I'm not going to eat the meat." I go to any restaurant in the Muslim world and I eat in there without saying, "Oh, I didn't hear them say the name of Allah. Maybe the guy is a Muslim, but he forgot, or he said, 'In the name of Ali,' or 'In the name of Hussein.' I don't know." So, I'll refrain. You are making life difficult.
After all of this, I don't know if I missed anything, but after all of this, if you don't want to eat, good for you. I have no problem. I haven't been to the States for 40 years. And to tell you the truth, McDonald's is not meat to me. It's plastics. But that doesn't mean I'm endorsing you to eat there. If you feel that, no, I'd rather be safe than sorry, there are so many halal outlets. Good for you. Eat there. But don't look down at people who follow scholars. And I'm telling you, I didn't, I don't shoot from the hip. This is the fatwa of scholars. And they said that you go and eat in these countries without asking. This is the Islamic verdict according to the Quran and to the Sunnah.
The Prophet himself sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was invited by a Jew woman, and she prepared a ram for him, and he ate without asking her about their income or about whether it was killed by another blow from another ram, or she, it fell from a mountain, or it drowned. The Prophet just said, "Bismillah," and ate. One would say, "Oh, because the Jews are known to eat kosher meat, and they have to have rituals, etc." This is what you say. What about the Jews who are not practicing Jews? Would you eat? Said, "Most likely it's kosher. Most likely." We don't act like this. We have defaults. Islam is a religion of ease and simplicity.
Now, you want to eat halal food. Good for you. I'm not telling you, "No, you have to go to KFC or to Burger King." No. Keep on going and eating halal. But if you see me or someone else following the fatwa of scholars and following the thought process that I've just explained to you in black and white, it's so easy. You don't look down at them and say, "Oh, your dua is not going to be answered because you're eating and halal, and it's..." With all due respect, I don't buy this. But again, this is my stance and my point of view according to the scholars. My scholars show me what and who you're following according to the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah, according to the default. Otherwise, remember Turkey and Pakistan. Remember those who are grave worshippers. Remember marrying Christian women in these countries. Whether you're going to deal with it in the same fashion, and if you deal with it in the same fashion, we have a big problem. Not of takfir of the people of the book, but this would be cascaded upon the Muslims. You would not consider me Muslim until you give me a placement test. Let me check, check, "As-salamu alaykum," and this and that and that. That's Houston. We do have a problem. Allah knows best.