Question

https://www.eaglefoods.co.uk/documents/superchick-brochure.pdf

Asslamualaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu,

I have come Across this company who say they are Halal and they slaughter by hand. I only eat HMC meat, however not everything is labelled as HMC but may still be fully Halal.

How do I know and judge this, and is the above suitable to eat from.

Jazakallahu Khayra

Answer

We have tried to contact the company to enquire regarding their slaughtering process, however, we have not received a response.

In order for meat to be halal the animal must be slaughtered by hand and by a Muslim who takes the name of Allah the Almighty at the time of slaughtering. If this company fulfils this criteria then the products will be lawful for consumption regardless of whether or not they are certified by the HMC company.

Another point to take into consideration is stunning. Stunning itself does not render an animal unlawful for consumption if the animal does not die during the stunning process. If, however, the animal dies during the stunning process and before the slaughter then the animal will be rendered unlawful for consumption. As we have not been able to contact the company we are not aware of their policies regarding stunning.

You are correct in stating that a product not certified by HMC is not necessarily unlawful for consumption, as lawfulness of meat depends on the factors mentioned above. However, without contacting the company it would difficult to know whether the meat is actually lawful for consumption. Hence, in order to ascertain the lawfulness of meat products you would have to contact the companies you are interested in and speak to them about their slaughtering process. If this is not possible then consuming HMC only would be the more cautious approach as the company does the research and monitoring on behalf of the Muslim community.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel