Slaughtering by the People of the Book

The basic rule regarding the food and meat of the People of the Book is that it is Halal. A Muslim can eat their food and marry their women, as stated in the following Ayah: “This day are (all) Tayyibat (good and pure things) made lawful unto you. The food the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them.

(Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers but chaste women among the People of the Book when you give them their due dowers and desire chastity not lewdness nor secret intrigues. If any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).” (Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:5)

People of the Book specificallly means Christians and Jews. Scholars have discussed in great detail exactly what is meant by the expression “People of the Book” and whether or not that meaning would change with time. The majority of scholars say that the meaning of People of the Book has not changed and should not change with time, even if the Christians and Jews deviate more in their path from the True Path and regardless of how much they practise of their religion.

The reasons for this understanding are very simple. First, all or most of these deviations existed even before the revelation of the Qur’an to our Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, yet Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala called them the People of the Book. Second, Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala did not mention it in the Qur’an – and He surely knows that they are going to change. We should not, therefore, pay attention to these changes, and should treat them, in every way in which we deal with them, as who they are – the People of the Book.

Rasheed Ridhaa, a respected scholar who lived at the turn of the century, said in his book of Tafseer: “Allah prohibited us from marrying Mushrik women, yet He subhanahu wa ta’aala also permitted us – in a clear and direct manner in the same Ayah – to marry the women of the People of the Book. Since marriage is more important than eating, we should not, therefore, put any restriction on the rulings derived from the Ayah regarding their food or who they are.” (Tafseer al-Manar, VI/p353).

It should be pointed out that the Dhabeehah of the People of the Book is Halal regardless of whether their country is considered to be part of the Daar-ul-Harb (at war with Muslims) or Daar-us-Salaam (at peace with Muslims). Imam Nawawee has reported on the consensus of scholars on this matter (al Majmuu’a, V9/P68).
Haram food is always haram.

All scholars have understood food in the above Ayah to refer to meat or Dhabeehah of the People of the Book. One should now ask the question: Are all the types of food and meat used by them Halal for us? The answer to that can be summarised by stating that what our Deen has shown us to be Haram will always be Haram. Therefore, all the rulings discussed above apply to their Dhabeehah with one exception – the invocation of the Name of Allah over the slaughtered animal. The same conditions for the Halal requirement of Dhabeehah, are considered again, this time with the People of the Book in mind:

1. According to Ayah 5:5 mentioned Muslims can only eat good and pure meats. Therefore, the flesh of swine, blood, dead animals, etc are not permissible for the Muslim to eat – even items (eg pork) currently eaten by the People of the Book.

2. No names other than that of Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala should be invoked over the animal. If such is done, the Dhabeehah becomes Haram according to Abu Hanifah, Shafiee and Ibn Hanbal. That is the ruling if we actually hear these names invoked at the time of slaughtering. If we do not actually hear them, scholars have said that the ruling is not to ask about it. This ruling is supported by the majority of scholars.

3. According to Abu Hanifah and Ibn Hanbal, the Dhabeehah of the People of the Book is not Halal unless they invoke the Name of Allah over it. According to Malik and Shafiee, however, invoking the Name of Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala is not a requirement, and the Dhabeehah is Halal. This latter opinion is supported by the following:
*The fact that the above Ayah declares their meat to be Halal without imposing any restrictions such as the invocation of the Name of Allah over the animal. Therefore, their meat is Halal for us as long as it does not belong to one or more of the 10 Haram categories discussed here (see box).

*In a Hadith narrated by Aa’isha, radhiallaahu ‘anha, she said: “Some people told the Prophet that some people brought them meat and they did not know whether the Name of Allah had been spoken over it or not. The Prophet said: ‘Speak the Name of Allah over it and eat’.” (Reported by al-Bukhari and Abu Dawood). This Hadith shows that non-Muslims were not used to invoking the Name of Allah during the time of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and that the invocation was required of Muslims because the Prophet had told them to invoke Allah’s Name before eating. That can be interpreted to mean: because their meat is permitted for you, you can eat it, just by mentioning Allah’s Name over it, and it does not really matter whether or not they had invoked Allah’s Name over it because it is not required of them.

*Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala has permitted us to marry women of the People of the Book, and it is well established that the husband cannot force his wife to be a Muslim or to practise Islamic worship. Similarly, we cannot ask the People of the Book to invoke Allah’s Name over an animal they slaughter, because they are not required to do so.

*If one considers Ayah 7:121 of Surah al-An’aam: “Eat not of (meats) on which Allah’s name has not been pronounced” together with the fact that the People of the Book do not invoke Allah’s Name, one may get confused. But the paradox is answered by considering the following: The meat of the People of the Book is exempted from the restriction. The Qur’an prohibits Muslims from marrying Mushrik women but at the same time has exempted women of the People of the Book from the prohibition, as mentioned in the same Ayah. By analogy, a similar exemption applies to the case of their Dhabeehah.

Based on this discussion and other evidences, the following conclusions have been drawn:

1. All meats prohibited in Islam are always prohibited, even if the People of the Book eat them.

2. If a Muslim hears a Christian or a Jew invoking the names of other than Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala, he should not eat from that Dhabeehah. But if he does not hear them, he should not ask about it, either.

3. We cannot force the People of the Book to invoke Allah’s Name when slaughtering. Hence, their Dhabeehah is Halal even without the invocation.
4. The slaughtering procedure used by the People of the Book should not kill the animal before slaughtering it.