meat in the netherlands

The Netherlands did a survey, and through the survey they said that 56% of the country is atheist. however, me personally i dont believe the survey because only ask a certain group of people and i have never really witnessed someone being questioned about it. anyway does this make it so that meat is forbidden to eat in this country if its marked with "halal" because i asked another scholar about this and he said that due to the christian tradition of this country its still considered a chirstian country and the meat is still permissible (the shaykh himself lives in the usa)

Dear Brother / Sister,

Your own assessment carries greater weight in this matter. If you are convinced that the majority of the people in that country are from the People of the Book, then it is permissible.

Is it permissible to eat meat without researching who slaughter animals in countries where Jews and Christians are in majority?

The Details of the Question

- Is it permissible to eat meat without researching who slaughter animals in countries where People of the Book are in majority?

- We know that the meat of animals slaughtered by People of the Book is permissible to eat but it is getting harder and harder to follow it in the globalizing world. There are fast food brands such as McDonalds and Burger King; Christians and Jews are in majority in the countries such as America and Canada. Is it permissible to consume meat in such shops in those countries?

- It is difficult to find halal meat outside. However, it is difficult to follow up in such corporate companies. The majority of the population in those countries belongs to People of the Books. Can there be an exception for it?

- In addition, chicken companies slaughter chickens with automated machines.

The Answer

The meat of the animals that People of the Book (Jews and Christians) slaughter and the food they cook duly can be eaten. The following is stated in the Quran regarding the issue:

“This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them.” (al-Maida, 5/5)

Slaughtering an animal duly is done by cutting the esophagus and trachea of ​​the animal, as well as the two jugular veins or one of the two jugular veins.

The person to slaughter the animal must be sane and old enough to differentiate between what is good and bad. However, if it is definitely known that when a Christian from the People of the Book slaughtered an animal by mentioning the name of Messiah and a Jew by mentioning the name of Uzayr, what they slaughtered is not halal because animals slaughtered in the name of anyone/anything other than Allah cannot be eaten. (al-Maida, 5/3)

If the country where a Muslim lives is an Islamic country or a country where People of the Book are in majority, it is permissible to eat the meat of the animals that are permissible to eat such as cattle, sheep and chicken.

Therefore, it is permissible to eat the meat and meat products of the animals that Jews and Christians, whom we call People of the Book, slaughter duly.

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