Is It Better to Avoid All Machine Slaughtered Meat?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Could you clarify the rulings on machine slaughtered meat?  Is there any merit in authorities or certifying agencies who use this machine slaughtered meat? Is it better to avoid all machine slaughtered meat, even in Muslim countries?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Since you have read in the other available answers on the question of machine slaughtered meat, the following can be understood:

1) Many people, including some Islamic agencies that oversee halal standards for food, follow a minority opinion by a popular modern Islamic figure that says machine slaughtering is permissible. See this link for more specifics.

2) Saying the Tasmiya (Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim). During the machine slaughtering it is highly unlikely that the tasmiya is said upon each and every animal at the time of slaughter.

Allah Most High clearly states, “and do not eat anything over which God’s name has not been pronounced, For that would certainly be ˹an act of˺ disobedience.” [Qur’an; 6:121]

3) Some legitimate certifying agencies. Despite the plethora of agencies with very lax standards around the world, there are still some that are diligent in upholding the proper conditions for permissible meat. It may take some research, but they are out there.

One example for the U.S.A. is Halal Food Standards Alliance of America (HFSAA).

In Muslim majority countries, you will still need to do some basic research. However, the main issue is with chicken and the like. Lambs, cows, etc… are not slaughtered by machine due to their size.

Summary

Whether you are in a Muslim majority country or elsewhere, be cautious where your food is coming from. You do not have to deeply investigate any company, but a basic research or call will suffice. Stay away from any companies that use machine slaughtering. If the food is beef or lamb or the like, just look for a basic certification that it is halal, especially in a Muslim majority company. 

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.