The Ruling on Meats When the Circumstances of Slaughter is Unknown in the Lands of the Disbelievers

Question :

Frozen and cold meats are sold here in America and we do not know who slaughtered them, nor how they were slaughtered; may we eat them?

Answer:

If the area in which the aforementioned meats were slaughtered consists of none but the People of the Scripture, i.e., the Jews and Christians, then their slaughter is permissible, even if you do not know how they slaughtered them. Because the basic principle is that their slaughtered animals are permissible, according to the Words of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful:
"Made lawful to you this day are At-Tayyibāt [all kinds of Halal (lawful) foods, which Allah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered catable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits)]. The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them."

But if there are other disbelievers (not from the People of the Scripture) living in the area, then do not eat it, because of the uncertainty as to whether it is permissible or forbidden.

Likewise, if you know that those who sell these meats slaughter them in a way which is contrary to the Islamic Law, such as by strangling or electric shock, then do not eat it, whether the slaughterer was a Muslim or a disbeliever, in accordance with the Words of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful:
"Forbidden to you (for food) are: Al-Maitah (the dead animals- cattle-beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which Allah's Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering (that which has been slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah, or has been slaughtered for idols) and that which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death).

May Allah grant success to the Muslims in understanding the religion, for verily, He is All-Hearing, Near.

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