What Is Halal?
Halal (حلال ḥalāl) People say these people chant their magical slogans on the meat, so when we eat it, we want to be Muslims.
That is the most foolish statement I’ve ever heard!
All the creatures have been given life by the Almighty, what gives me the right to take the life of a cow away?
I don’t have the right.
So the Almighty says:
Well, under certain conditions you may be granted permission to take that life away in a specific way. So I’m not allowed to destroy the creatures of the Almighty for no purpose. I cannot even destroy the ecosystem without purpose. If I want to cut trees down, I need to ask myself, why I’m doing it?
If there’s no purpose for it, leave the tree. It has life of a different nature. You’re a Muslim. You need be peace with everything else. But yes, if there is a need for firewood or there is a need to clear the path, I may say, “In the name of the Almighty the giver of the life,” and I begin to cut that tree.
So what about insects?
Before you spray your mosquito repellent, that little sound that irritates you, before you spray your doom, you say, “In the name of the Almighty. Bismillah.” You spray your doom.
What happened?
They were doomed. But that was for the purpose. You don’t just go and destroy. If a reptile is harming you, you may, by the name of the Almighty.
You need to take His name because He’s the giver of that life.
Who are you to take it away?
So when it comes to the animals, there are certain animals that are permissible to eat. You cannot just be barbaric. The way you have treated the animal from the point of its birth to the point of its slaughter, it’s extremely important.
You need to be completely humane even with animals. You need to treat them, give them that life that they deserve, feed them properly, give them that air and the space. If you were to look at abattoirs that belong to Non-Muslim, they are very barbarically run.
To be honest with you, I’ve visited… I’ve seen… We were so shocked. Nauseating… And people say, “Yeah, you guys are doing something that’s very barbaric.” “Oh, come and see.” “We’ll show you… show you how it’s done. Come!”
So now when we get to the cow for example, or the sheep that has been fed properly, and it has not been force fed and kept in a pen like the ducks of the world and the chickens that don’t even grow feathers anymore, because they’re modified, their sole purpose of being given life is to grow until they’re killed brutally in order to be served on the table.
Not halal, we don’t want that!
It must be accorded its life. It must be treated as a proper chicken. It must be treated as animal, a bird, whatever it is. It must be fed properly. And at the same time you bring it to the pen, you slaughter it in a way that it does not witness the others. And at the same time, such a sharp blade.
And why is it that the throat is used?
Because of the central nervous system. Powerful statement. Sometimes people hack the animals to death. People say, “You need to stun these animals.”
Did you know that there is research that proves that stunning an animal actually creates greater pain than if you don’t stun the animal.
People say, “How?” Go and check. You’re confusing the animal totally. You’re killing it an unconscious.
What are you talking about?
Amazing. If you were to get cut with the blade as you’re shaving, you won’t even know that you’re cut until water goes on it.
Why?
The razor was very sharp. Very sharp. So we are to use a sharp blade, quick slice.
When I burn my fingers, what happens?
A message goes from the sensory nerves to my brain, send through nervous system. It says, “You are hurt, lift your hand up!” It happens within a split second.
But if the central nervous system is ruptured from the jugulars, the pain, the message goes up, it gets stuck there because it cannot go up anymore.
Blood system, bloodstream out. So what happens? It numbs to a halt.
That is halal.
If you were to slice it, the message will not go from the bottom to the top, nor from the top to the bottom, because the jugulars are gone.
Wind pipe and food pipe. And you have to take the permission of the giver of that life, when you’re slaughtering. If not, we don’t want to eat that.
You’ve stolen it from the property of God. Allahu Akbar!
How can you just cut an animal? Who are you to take that life away?
You need to say, “In the name of the giver of the life, I’m taking this by Your permission.”
Such a humane way. Beautiful.
That is turned halal.
You’re taking the life away. And this is the original system of the Jews and the Christian. It is the original system that was taught by all of Messengers.
Islam adopts it quite strictly, and so does Judaism. And I’d like to think Judaism adopts it even more strictly. Go and study. You’ll find it. Same system.
So why do people pick on halal? It in fact is the most humane way. In fact it is the way of being protected from horse meat.
Allah protect us, yes. And the supervisors will ensure that things are happening.
They will tell you, we guarantee you that this thing was done properly. And guess what?
It’s not the horse, my brother. It is a privilege and honor to eat something that was slaughtered
by the name of the giver of the life.
To say, only for eating purposes consumption we took into consideration every rule that You have put. And we have actually fulfilled everything, so we hope we will now get the blessing of the food that we put into our mouths.
If not, I’d rather eat the vegetables. May Allah protect us!
Sheikh Mufti Menk
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