My question is regarding the shariah perspective of halal chicken and red meat.
Can we consume machine slaughtered chicken or red meat those are certified as Halal in Canada?
I came across people who said they always had machine slaughtered meat in Saudi Arabia.
Your guidance will be appreciated.
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah,
Our position under AskHalal.ca is posted on our AskHalal Whatsapp Groups. I will reproduce that here:
Our Current Position on all meat/restaurant related queries
- At this time, ilmHub is only accepting queries of consumer packaged goods.
- We are not able to search through any restaurant, halal meat store or abattoir related query.
In regards to meats, we currently endorse only HMA* & HIC stamped meats.
- In sheep/cow meats both HMA & HIC are reliable
- In chicken at this time HIC is fully reliable.
- While HMA is still endorsed, due to current CAS Gas Stunning issues we encourage and recommend consumers to look for non-Stun options.
- If no non-Stun options are available then cautious individuals may want to adopt taqwa and secure non-HMA chicken (unless it is known that the particular supplied chicken does not use CAS Gas Stunning).
Within Alberta we have started working on AHAS (Alberta Halal Auditing Service), however the progress is slow. May Allah accept.
As for all other certifications, until and unless we come to full clarity and reliance their policies, procedures and implementations, their products will be considered mashbooh and we will not endorse them.
As always continue to make du’a for us in our endeavors, Ameen
As for American certifications, Only HMS, HFSAA or Shariah Board Certifications are endorsed.
AskHalal Team
In regards to Machine Slaughtered meat (Chicken) our fatwa is posted on fatwa.ca at: https://fatwa.ca/chfca-halal-certification-machine-slaughter-kirkland-chicken-and-maple-lodge-zabiha-halal/
Thus, in current industrial forms there is NO Halal-Suitable machine slaughtered chicken and we have not endorsed any company. I have been informed from hearsay someone taking our name and above fatwa in public saying that we endorse machine slaughtered chicken. Anyone suggesting that has not read the above answer properly. Only specific theoretical method of machine slaughter would be halal, but it is not practiced anywhere.
Lastly, regarding Saudi Arabia, we do not rely on hearsay. If people say something, they must substantiate it. Saudia Arabia wataniya (local) chicken is still slaughtered by hand as per information we have. Our concerns are with the imported meats there which are also advertised outside restaurants for transparency to show the source of the meats.
For example, any meat being imported from Brazil which ulama’ and scholars have investigated and found not to be Halal-Suitable cannot be “assumed” to be halal simply because Saudi Arabia is importing it.
All in all, we believe in thorough investigation of our foods in contemporary world where false claimants, doubtful practices and conflict of interest are rife in the commercial market. Once satisfied, we are happy to endorse an avenue as it brings needed ease for practicing muttaqi community. Otherwise, those who only want to eat without diligence would not bother seeking our guidance anyway.
May Allah keep us all guided towards halal, tayyib and muttaqi actions, Ameen.
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi