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From: soudan@iitmax.iit.edu (Bassel Soudan)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Some Questions...
Message-ID: <1990Sep26.063806.10849@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 26 Sep 90 06:38:06 GMT
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In article <15974@wpi.WPI.EDU> jzubairi@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Junaid Ahmed Zubairi) writes:

[ Some stuff deleted here to conserve network bandwidth. ]

>if chickens, lambs, and cows are allowed to bleed while
> being slaughtered , then the meat available in USA is ok to eat.
>because by definition, christians and jews are people of the book
>and Suratul Maidah in Quran gives them special status as far as
>relations with muslims are considered.

	The problem here is not whether they are allowed to bleed while being
slaughtered or not. The problem is that in most slaughter houses the animal
is given an electric shock to sedate/imobalize it first. People used to think 
that this shock did not only sedate the animal, but it actually killed it.
If that is true, then the animal was not slaughtered correctly according to
the teachings of the Prophet (PBUH). One sloution is to go and see what 
actually happens in the slaughter house closest to you to satisfy your self.

	That is one side of the problem. The other side is that Prophet 
Mohammad (PBUH) said that both arteries in the neck have to be cut in order for 
the blood to be completely removed from the animal's body. The problem here is
with the chickens, because that may not happen all the time in the slaughter 
houses in the US or Europe. (There are some horrific details here about the
way chickens are slaughtered, that I can e-mail direct to you if you wish)

>
>On the other hand, Ulema in Pakistan are rather strict on this
>question and they reject such meat mostly haram.
>

	I think this might be because of the two reasons I mentioned above.

>What is the practice of most muslims living in USA and Europe?

	Here in Chicago, we don't have to worry so much about this problem
because there are several stores here that carry "Halal" meat. I had some
friends who lived near a farming community and they found a farmer that
slaughters for them according to their wishes. You might want to try that.

	I hope that this might help a little. The above is what "I" know
about this subject. If I am wrong please tell me so that I would correct
myself.

	I bid you peace.

Bassel