What is the Spiritual Significance of Our Method of Slaughtering?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz A. Khan

Question

What is the spiritual meaning (if known) behind the slaughter method?

Is it an offering to Allah, or a seeking of permission from Allah to consume the meat, or something else?

With the rise of islamophobia and anti-halal campaigns, halal is said to be some sort of an offering, and hence might not be suitable for people of other religiosity.

How do we respond to this argument?

Answer

I pray this finds you in the best of health and states.

Halal (Islamically lawful) meat does not refer to some sort of “offering.” Rather, it is merely a prescribed method of slaughtering that renders meat permissible for Muslims to consume, and of course, persons of all faiths (or of no faith) are more than welcome to partake of that meat. It is akin to the Jewish concept of “kosher.”

The central idea is to pronounce the name of Allah (God) at the time of slaughtering so that life is not taken in vain but rather done so with God’s permission and for His sake, according to the merciful method He prescribed and with all the blessings that accompany His Divine name and permission.

And Allah knows best.
wassalam
[Shaykh] Faraz Khan
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Faraz A. Khan has lived in Amman, Jordan, for several years studying and teaching traditional Islamic sciences, with a focus on Hanafi jurisprudence, hadith studies, theology, logic, and Arabic grammar. He translated and annotated the classical Hanafi primer “Ascent to Felicity” (Maraqi ‘l-Sa`adat) by Imam Shurunbulali, recently published by White Thread Press.