Is Kosher Meat Upon Which God’s Name Has not Been Pronounced Permissible?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas
Question: When Jews slaughter they don’t say God’s name on each animal they slaughter. If they are slaughtering more than one animal they just say God’s name one time at the beginning. Is kosher meat still permissible to eat in this case?
Answer: wa `alaykum assalam
According to Jewish Rabbinic law (halakha), it is necessary to pronounce a blessing prior to slaughtering animals. However, according to Jewish scholars, if the blessing is not recited, it would still be permitted to consume such meat. Further, while this blessing is generally not omitted in practice, it is considered sufficient to perform it once at the commencement of an uninterrupted session of slaughtering that involves multiple animals.

The Sunni Position on the Issue
Those Who Said Pronouncing the Name of God is Obligatory

The non-utterance of the name of God on each animal individually is considered problematic in some of the Sunni schools and acceptable in others. The Hanafi school stipulates that pronouncing the name of God is a condition for meat to be considered permissible, a rule that applies to both Muslims and non-Muslims who are slaughtering. In other words, the animal slaughter of a Jewish person would only be permitted for a Muslim if this person pronounced the name of God on each animal he slaughtered. Doing so simply at the beginning of the session would not be sufficient. his is also the position of the Hanbali school. [Kasani, Bada`i al-Sana`i; Haskafi, Durr al-Mukhtar; Ibn Qudama, Mughni]

Those Who Said it is Not Obligatory

According to the position of scholars in the Maliki and Shafi`i schools, the slaughter of a Jewish person who did not pronounce the name of God on every animal would be permitted provided that other conditions are also fulfilled. The relied upon position of the Shafi`i school is that pronouncing the name of God is not obligatory but recommended, [Nawawi, Majmu`; Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj] while some leading Maliki authorities have stated that pronouncing the name of God before slaughtering is a condition specific to Muslims. [Zurqani, Sharh Mukhtasar al-Khalil; Nafrawi, Fawakih al-Dawwani] This latter position is also ascribed to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal by Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Kawsaj. [Kawsaj, Masa’il] Therefore, the non-pronouncement of God’s name by a Jewish person during the slaughter would not in itself pose a problem according to these scholars, a point which was also confirmed by a resolution of the Majma` al-Fiqh al-Islami.

Those Who Gave Consideration to the Traditions of Ahl al-Kitab

Further, there is also another position stating that what is taken into consideration when it comes to the meat of the Jews and Christians is what they themselves deem as proper slaughter as per their religious traditions. This was stated by Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi in his Ahkam al-Qur’an. There is significant discussion on the actual details of this position that requires a greater degree of investigation than can be provided here. Nonetheless, a number of scholars, past and present, have challenged this ruling and deemed it aberrant although a thorough researched paper on the issue remains to be seen.

Conclusion

To conclude, the point you raise is a valid one that certainly impacts the rulings surrounding the permissibility of kosher meat. However, there is a sufficient degree of diversity in the opinions of the Sunni schools to safely state that kosher meat can be consumed by people without issue as most contemporary scholars have ruled.

Salman

قال ابن عابدين في رد المحتار على الدر المختار: ( قوله وتارك تسمية عمدا ) بالجر عطفا على وثني : أي ولا تحل ذبيحة من تعمد ترك التسمية مسلما أو كتابيا لنص القرآن ولانعقاد الإجماع ممن قبل الشافعي على ذلك انتهى

قال ابن قدامة في المغني: فإن ترك الكتابي التسمية عن عمد أو ذكر اسم غير الله لم تحل ذبيحته انتهى

ذكر الخطيب الشربيني في مغني المحتاج: فلو تركها ولوعمدا حل انتهى

قال الزرقاني في شرحه على مختصر خليل في باب الذكاة: تؤكل ذبيحة الكافر …ولو لم ينو أو يسم لأنهما خاصان بالمسلم انتهى

قال النفراوي المالكي في الفواكه الدواني: ظاهر كلام المصنف كغيره طلب التسمية والنية عند الذكاة من المسلم والكافر، وليس كذلك، فقد قال الأجهوري: محل الوجوب فيهما إذا كان المذكي مسلما، وأما إن كان كافرا فلا يعتبر في أكل ذكاته نية، ولا تسمية. انتهى

ذكر الكوسج في مسائل الإمام أحمد وإسحاق بن راهويه: قلت نصراني ذبح ولم يسم؟ قال ـ أي الإمام أحمد لا بأس به قال إسحاق ابن راهويه كما قال انتهى

قال ابن العربي في أحكام القرآن: ولقد سئلت عن النصراني يفتل عنق الدجاجة ثم يطبخها : هل يؤكل معه أو تؤخذ طعاما منه ؟ وهي : المسألة الثامنة : فقلت : تؤكل ; لأنها طعامه وطعام أحباره ورهبانه ، وإن لم تكن هذه ذكاة عندنا ، ولكن الله تعالى أباح طعامهم مطلقا ، وكل ما يرون في دينهم فإنه حلال لنا في ديننا ، إلا ما كذبهم الله سبحانه فيه انتهى