Question: What is the ruling on the chicken which comes from France? What we heard is they slaughter by electrocution. What is obligatory upon the ministers of commerce. Please benefit us may Allah grant you Success.
Answer: “This subject been posed more than once and we spoke about it more than once. We spoke about it with the ministry of commerce more than once and there was correspondence between us and them. What is known is that everything that comes to this land it is known and permissible. There is no doubt in it and among them are good and well-known things, in terms of slaughtered meat and other than that. The origin of what comes to [us] from the people of the Book is permissibility. The origin of what the People of the Book slaughter is permissiblity. This is the origin. So what comes to us from the lands of the People of the Book from the Jews and Christians, its origin is permissibility because Allah allowed us the food of the People of the Book. Their food is their slaughtered meat, which comes from France, England, Denmark, or what is similar to that from the lands of the Christians. Likewise, the lands of the Jews if there is between us and them a relationship. It is permissible for us because this is their food and it is not upon us that we inspect or that we say perhaps such [occurred during slaughter] or such and such. If we know it was slaughtered according to other than the Islamic slaughtering, like by strangling or electrocution and the likes of that, if we know this occurred to this meat we do not eat it. If we do not know, then origin is permissibilty like the slaughtered meat of the Muslims. The origin is permissible like the slaughter of the Muslims until we know that the Muslim slaughtered it according to other than the Islamic slaughtering. So like this we take the allowance and easiness and leave off the blame and unnecessary burden”.
[Taken from Noor ‘ala Darb (24/186)]
Translated by
Faisal Ibn Abdul Qaadir Ibn Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan
