The Fundamental Principle Regarding Meat
Question:
What is the fundamental principle regarding meat—permissibility or prohibition?
Answer:
The fundamental principle regarding meat is prohibition, but not regarding the animal itself. (The fundamental principle concerning animals is permissibility, while the fundamental principle concerning meat is prohibition, until we know or have a strong presumption that it is lawful).
This means:
- If we doubt whether a particular animal is lawful or unlawful, it is lawful, and we may slaughter it properly and eat it.
- However, if we doubt whether a particular piece of meat has been properly slaughtered or is carrion, the fundamental principle is prohibition, until we have a strong presumption that it is lawful.
For instance, if meat comes from someone whose slaughter is permissible, then it is lawful. We are not required to ask how it was slaughtered or whether the name of Allah was mentioned over it. This is neither an obligation upon us nor are we even allowed to ask. Asking such questions falls into excessive religious scrutiny.
For this reason, when people came to the Prophet ﷺ asking:
“Some people bring us meat, and we do not know whether they have mentioned the name of Allah over it or not?”
He replied:
“Say ‘Bismillah’ yourselves and eat.”
He did not instruct them to ask. Rather, he said:
“Say ‘Bismillah’ yourselves and eat.”
The narrator of the hadith, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), commented:
“They were new to Islam,” meaning that those bringing the meat were recent converts from disbelief, and a person newly converted may not yet be fully aware of the obligation of mentioning Allah’s name at slaughter.
In any case, if meat comes from someone whose slaughter is permissible—i.e., from one of three categories of people: a Muslim, a Jew, or a Christian—then we do not ask.
For example, if a slaughtered animal is sold in our markets today, do we ask who slaughtered it? No, we do not ask.
Do we inquire whether the slaughterer prays or not? No, we do not ask.
Do we ask whether the name of Allah was mentioned over it? No, we do not ask.
Do we ask whether the blood was drained in a legally prescribed manner? No, we do not ask.
Such questioning is excessive. If we were to require inquiry, it would lead to endless questions—such as asking whether the slaughtered animal was owned by the butcher, how he acquired it, whether he bought it, received it as a gift, or stole it. Then we would have to investigate how the first owner obtained it, and so on. But, praise be to Allah, He has made matters easy and put an end to such doubts by instructing us not to ask.
The Jews used to gift meat to the Prophet ﷺ, and he would eat it without inquiring. A Jew once invited him to a meal of barley bread and rancid fat, and he did not ask how the fat was sourced. The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ.
As for the claims spread by some people that the meat imported into our markets has not been slaughtered in a lawful manner, this is incorrect and mere whispering (waswas). Such rumors should not be circulated among people, as they lead believers to consume meat while doubting its permissibility. Let people eat in peace.
Moreover, the meat imported into our country—praise be to Allah—has already been certified by committees at the slaughterhouses abroad, ensuring that it is slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.
[From “Open Meetings” – Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen (Session No. 234)]
