Is it permissible to eat the meat o...

Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta

Is it permissible to eat the meat of Christians when they don't mention God's on it?

Question

Is it permissible to eat the meat of Christians when they don't mention God's on it?

Answer

People wonder who are the people referred to in the Quran as ‘People of the Book’. Are they the true Christians and Jews who follow the original teachings of their prophets, or the ones we see today who follow beliefs that have been distorted over the passage of time? We should remember that in the Quran God denounces as unbelievers those who claim Jesus to be the son of God or claim that God is one of a trinity. Yet He calls them in the Quran 'People of the Book'. This means that when He allowed us to marry their women and eat the meat of their animals, He included them all.

What we need to remember is that it is only because God has permitted us that we kill animals for food. We mention God's name at the time of slaughter to emphasize this fact. Otherwise, we could not take the life of an animal. This is the reason why we are not permitted to eat the meat of animals slaughtered by idolaters because they do not hold similar beliefs.

Once, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked by some of his Companions about meat they were offered and they did not know whether God's name was mentioned on it at the time of slaughter. He told them: "Recite God's name and eat of it." This applies to us today. When we buy meat from a supermarket and we do not know whether or not the slaughterer is from the People of the Book, we mention God's name and eat of it.
And God the Almighty knows best.
 

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