The key building block here is of course the operation of informed consumer choice. As far as the wisdom of stunning is concerned, it is really in conformity with the wisdom established in the Prophetic hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “Allah has prescribed excellence and compassion in all things, so when you kill, kill well; when you slaughter, slaughter well, and let him sharpen his knife and spare the animal pain.”. You Might Be Eating Halal Meat And Not Even Know It : The Salt As the U.S. Muslim population grows, so does demand for meat from animals slaughtered according to Islamic law. Click on the picture to read a newspaper report about the sale of Halal meat in UK shops. Question / Help. dvlz , j, 123kdd thanks you really wrote what i wanted to say . I have a restaurant near to me in the UK that does not advertise itself as halal on Just Eat/Hungry House. Personally, I much regret that the UK invoked the “religious exemption” in the first place. Not all providers of halal meat will not stun the animal prior to slaughter, but The Lancashire Council of Mosques argued that the halal … The health and safe ty. In the UK, we pay scant regard to the conditions in which farm animals are reared, and it is notable that while issues around the sharia requirements for meat to be considered halal … Read our full mailing list consent terms here. Responding to the question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following, The question of meat slaughtered by the People of the Book has been a controversial issue among Muslim scholars. If he finds out that the stunning operation that is normally adopted in many of these countries actually kills the animal, he should not eat its meat. Zabiha (Halal Meat) Debate - Yasir Birjas vs Yasir Qadhi Part 1/2 - Duration: 10:01. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Just under 5% of the UK population is Muslim but they eat … Haram: Forbidden Food and Drinks . Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Although the term “halal” is used by non-Muslims almost exclusively to refer to the slaughter and preparation of meat in accordance with Islamic practices, its meaning within Islam is … World’s most famous sandwich shop says it has banned pork in 185 UK stores to appeal to Muslim customers Fast food giant Subway has removed pork products from 185 stores in the UK, where it will also use only halal meat in a bid to appeal to Muslim customers. As for stunning the animal, it does not make the animal dead, for it is intended only to knock the animal unconscious so that it does not feel pain and it is brought under control. More generally, well-judged “post-Brexit” action by the UK in the field of animal welfare and the environment may act as a spur and a stimulus to our continental, but no longer-EU, partners to up their own game. country, presents challenges to those committed to eating only halal meat. Nor do individual EU member states have much freedom in this area to take unilateral action. The EU Commission at present is investigating just such an option but it’s likely to be a long time coming. So that Halal takes precedence over whatever is kosher etc. and a small but increasing amount of beef. They must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter, killed by hand … Islamic people generally eat a disproportionate amount of lamb, accounting for 20% of England’s lamb consumption. They base this on the clear statement of the Qur’an: “Today, I have permitted for you all good things, and the food of the People of the Book is permissible for you, and your food is permissible for them.” (Al-Ma’idah 5:5). Muslim abattoirs in the UK … Sheikh Ahmad Kutty is a Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. To determine whether the meat of a particular restaurant, takeaway or butchers is Halal or otherwise, one needs to inquire and investigate. In most cases, the large animals, such as sheep, cattle, etc. And, of course, EU-wide labelling schemes may no longer affect us at all. Currently, meat in the UK that is labelled as halal could be from pre-stunned slaughter or not pre-stunned slaughter – it is very difficult to guarantee either way. That's the reason I pay extra for the halal butcher. Subway To stop serving ham or bacon as not to offend Muslims. Between 84 and 90 per cent of animals killed for halal meat in the UK are processed by one of the large number of halal slaughterhouses which do … To reiterate, no god is mentioned at all. 22 thousand cattle (1.1 percent of total slaughtered) None of the UK governments within the UK have a legal requirement to ensure all animals are stunned before slaughter. That is acceptable from the Islamic point of view.”, Source: Excerpted with modifications from www.islamicity.com. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? This issue has been the subject of recent news reports and radio and TV discussions. I would be happy to see specific UK legislation, drafted to replace the EU slaughter directive, explicitly preclude the “religious exemption” from pre-stunning requirements. Will we still be part of the “single market” and therefore bound by common rules? Muslims are enjoined by their religion to abstain from eating certain foods. With the revelation that Halal meats have been sold unwittingly to consumers in the UK, it would be interesting to know if they do the same here in Dunnes, supervalu etc. The term ‘non halal’ used on its own, due to the different production methods employed to produce halal meat can be very misleading and is not a satisfactory term to describe standard meat. Should Halal meat be banned in the UK? We may no longer be able to throw our weight around in the EU, but there is a wider world out there – UN specialised agencies, for example – dealing with international animal welfare and environmental matters where we should be proud to take a lead. However, the United Kingdom has not seen prominent cases of non-Jewish children being served Kosher meat without their knowledge, and the petition merely calls for parents and children to be notified and given the option not to consume the meat. as halal, but patently sell meat from non-halal slaughterhouses.3The prob-lem rests with the question of who is setting the standard by which slaugh-terhouses must operate to meet the criteria of halal – an area largely outside of the remit of UK law. ‘Halal’ in the context of meat consumption refers to the. If the consumer actually knows what he or she is buying, we would – I believe – in very short order see in a major reduction of halal products without at the same time offending the sensibilities of religious groups. For Muslim, eating halal meat is a big deal because for them eating halal meat is a clear order from the Holy Quran. There are calls to better label halal food in the UK, but how does it differ from other meat and why is it controversial? Turkey and turkey rashers will be used instead of ham and bacon, it … Most of us eat halal meat unwittingly on a daily basis, since it is sold in most major outlets, including big brand-name supermarkets, without being labelled as such. "There are differences of opinion about eating non-halal meat. Subway bans pork, non-halal meat in UK stores. My own experience with the slaughterhouses is that they do not make use of animals that are already dead before slaughter. I have a restaurant near to me in the UK that does not advertise itself as halal on Just Eat/Hungry House. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. You must meet all of the following requirements for halal … If you fall in this category of those who live among the People of the Book, then you may eat their meat, especially if you cannot find meat slaughtered by Muslims. 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