But contrary to what many assume, most animals killed by halal methods are stunned before slaughter. FSA estimates suggest that 88% of animals killed in the UK by halal methods have already been knocked out in a way that many Muslims find religiously acceptable. “French secularism demands assimilation,” Haider said. And when immigrant groups in France and other European countries seem to refuse to assimilate – maintaining practices that distinguish them as “other” – debates on issues like halal butchers often come dangerously close to racist territory. The Arabic word halal means permissible, and the rules of battle are based on Islamic law. The animal must be alive and healthy, a Muslim must perform the slaughter in the proper ritual manner, and the animal`s throat must be cut with a sharp knife that cuts the carotid artery, jugular vein and trachea in one fell swoop. Blood must be drained from the carcass. Islam generally considers all food to be halal unless it is specifically forbidden by the hadith or the Quran. [4] In particular, halal foods are those that: The UK has such an exemption for halal and kosher killings, meaning that “there are actually more regulations for handling animals that are not stunned at slaughter,” the document says. The word halal translates as “what is permitted” and is the opposite of haram or “forbidden”. For the slaughter of an animal to be considered halal, it must be safe and free from suffering before it dies.
he must be killed by a believer by a sharp cut on his neck; the name of Allah must be invoked at the time of death; And his death must come as a result of blood loss. As Muslims are forbidden to consume blood, the animal must bleed or bleed completely before being cooked. Some Muslim authorities fear that a stun gun could stop an animal`s heart from the ritual neck cut designed to kill it, preventing it from becoming halal; Halal slaughterhouses that subscribe to this belief do not use stunning before death. And if something goes wrong with that neck cut – if it`s not fast enough or clean enough and doesn`t cut the carotid arteries and veins in the neck as expected – and the animal takes a long time to die, the issue of animal welfare comes into play. Is slaughter halal? At a time when acts of violence seem to fill the pages of newspapers, we must take individual responsibility to embody the change we want to see in the world. When we hear about injustice or cruelty perpetrated against others, let`s look within, examine our own behavior, and engage in a nonviolent approach to our own lives. Halal or not: that is the question. Last week, the founder of Midamar Corporation, a halal beef producer based in Cedar Rapids, IA, was charged with 19 crimes for allegedly exporting mislabeled halal meat to Indonesia and Malaysia. Both countries have a Muslim majority — Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world — and both follow strict import guidelines to ensure that any meat that crosses their borders has been slaughtered according to halal guidelines. Midamar founder Bill Aossey Jr. was accused of processing Southeast Asian beef at a Minnesota plant that did not meet the country`s standards, then changing packaging labels and producing documentation to make the meat acceptable to importers.
If convicted of all charges, Aossey faces 246 years in federal prison and $4.75 million in fines. According to the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy, a 1980 study on the effects of stress on livestock and meat quality found that stunning creates more anxiety due to stress between stunning and bleeding the animal. The halal slaughter method does not solve this problem, because the caresses of the knife are directly correlated with the loss of blood supply. When companies like Amul, Patanjali, Cadbury, Bikaji, KFC, McDonald`s, Air India and Indian Railways give in to halal pressure, we need to sit down and take note of this diversion in the supply chain. As far as the health aspects of halal are concerned, let us divide it into two areas: the meat trade and the rest. Animal health experts and activists disagree. The RSPCA argues that killing animals without anesthesia causes “unnecessary suffering,” while the activist group Peta calls halal slaughter a “prolonged agony” and claims that animals “fight and gasp to breathe their last breath and struggle to stand as blood flows from their necks.” Muslims should also ensure that all foods (especially processed foods) as well as non-food products such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are halal. [11] [12] Often these products contain animal by-products or other ingredients that Muslims are not allowed to eat or use on their bodies.
Foods that are not considered halal for Muslims include blood[13] and intoxicants such as alcoholic beverages. [14] In many countries, outrage over halal practices can easily be interpreted as thinly veiled anti-Muslim sentiment. What are the other effects of halal food on our daily lives? The most common example of haram (non-halal) food is pork. While pork is the only meat categorically not allowed to be consumed by Muslims (the Qur`an forbids it,[6] Suras 2:173 and 16:115)[7][8], other foods that are not in a state of purity are also considered haram. The criteria for items other than pork include their source, the cause of death of the animal, and how it was processed. The majority of Islamic scholars consider shellfish and other seafood to be halal. [9] Vegetarian cuisine is halal if it does not contain alcohol. [10] On a day-to-day basis, the intricacies of halal slaughter methods — and whether or not they are humane — probably don`t affect most buyers, Haider said. The European Parliament has approved an amendment to the law that provides for mandatory labelling for all meat killed by halal slaughter without prior stunning – but it could take years for this to be implemented.
The slaughter must be carried out by a Muslim man. [24] Animals slaughtered by non-Muslims are not halal. Blood must be drained from the veins. Carrion (carcasses of dead animals, such as dead animals in the wild) cannot be eaten. [8] Furthermore, an animal that has been strangled, beaten to death, killed by a fall, tortured (to death), ravaged by a predator (unless killed by a human), or sacrificed on a stone altar cannot be eaten. [25] Perhaps surprisingly, according to Al Jazeera, eight of the world`s top 10 suppliers of halal meat are non-Muslim majority countries, led by Brazil, Australia and India. No, with the sole exception of the use or not of anesthesia. In halal slaughter involving prior stunning, there is no practical difference in the way the animal is treated.
Several food companies offer halal foods and processed products, including halal foie gras, spring rolls, chicken nuggets, ravioli, lasagna, pizza, and baby food. [16] Halal ready meals are a growing consumer market for Muslims in the UK and America and are offered by a growing number of retailers. [17] Halal meat must come from a supplier that uses halal practices. Dhabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة) is the prescribed method of slaughter for all meat sources, except fish and other forms of marine life, according to Islamic law. This method of slaughtering animals involves making an incision with a sharp knife that cuts the front of the throat, esophagus and cervical veins, but not the spinal cord. [22] The head of an animal slaughtered by halal methods is oriented towards the qiblah. In addition to instruction, authorized animals must be slaughtered according to the Islamic Bismillah prayer. [23] Halal is an illegal imposition and a parallel system of certification and food supply without mutual control.