18 May 2014 Prophet Ayub and Halal Meat

18 May 2014

Prophet Ayub and Halal Meat

The Patience of Prophet Ayub (Job)
Prophet Ayub was Allah’s thankful, repentant, patient and steadfast worshipper. Allah the Almighty has praised Him in the Qur'an and blessed him with long life, health, wealth and family, yet he was never haughty or selfish. Iblis was given permission to afflict Ayub to test him and see if he remained steadfast to Allah, by taking away his:
- wealth
- family
- health
- turning his wife against him

Ayub replied: "What Allah has taken away from me belongs to Him. I was only its trustee for a while. He gives to whom He wills and withholds from whom He wills", and "Allah sometimes gives and sometimes takes. He is sometimes pleased and sometimes displeased with our deeds. Whether a thing is beneficial or harmful to me, I will remain firm in my belief and remain thankful to my Creator"

Ayub made a du’a to Allah and eventually everything (and better) was restored: "Verily, distress has seized me, and You and the Most Merciful of all those who show Mercy. So We answered his call, and We removed the distress that was on him, and We restored his family to him (that he had lost) and the like thereof along with them - as a mercy from Ourselves and a Reminder for all who worship Us" TMQ 21:83-84

He washed with special water to improve his health, golden locusts provided his wealth and his family was restored and he managed to keep his oath to Allah.

May Allah give us the faith and the patience when we are tested. Ameen.


Main Topic: Halal Meat
Tadhkiya in Shari‘ah terminology means the slaughtering of animals. Muslims are forbidden from eating the meat of an animal unless it has been properly slaughtered according to the Shari‘ah rules. The four conditions that must be met to make the meat halal are:

1. The slaughterer must be a Muslim, or be from the People of the Book (a Christian or a Jew). It is forbidden for Muslims to eat meat slaughtered by Hindus, Druze or any other non-Muslim. Allah has permitted Muslims to eat the meat of an animal slaughtered by the People of the Book: “The food of the People of the Book is lawful for you.” [TMQ 5:5]

2. The animal must be slaughtered with the intention of slaughtering it. Every action should be performed with an intention, for the Messenger of Allah said, “Actions are but by intention.” If a man attempts to strike another man with a sword but instead strikes and cuts the neck of a sheep, the killed animal is not halal. The meat slaughtered by the mentally handicapped, the intoxicated or a child is not halal either.

3. The slaughtering instrument should satisfy two conditions:

i) It has to be a sharp instrument which has the ability to cut with its edge and not its weight, Allah’s Messenger said, “Do sharpen your blades.”

ii) The sharp instrument must not be a tooth or a claw. Allah’s Messenger said, “Make haste and be … but not the tooth or claw….as for the tooth, it is a bone and the claw is the knife of the Abyssinians.”

4. The animal must be slaughtered by cutting the throat and the labba (front of the neck). It is unlawful to slaughter the animal in any other spot.
The Messenger of Allah sent Badil ibn Warqa’ al-Khuza‘i, riding a camel and shouting hurriedly that the slaughtering of animals must be in the throat and labba.” For the slaughtered animal to be halal, it should die as a direct result of the slaughtering. If the animal dies due to other reasons, its meat becomes haram. If the bird or the animal was slaughtered from the back of the neck, and the blade reached the throat and labba, the slaughter would still be considered unlawful, because the animal may die from severing the spine. The proper slaughtering of the animal must include the slitting of the trachea, the oesophagus and the jugular veins.

Other issues:
- Invoking the name of Allah is not obligatory but mandub (recommended). Allah has permitted the slaughtered animals of the People of the Book, and there is no proof that they recite the name of Allah prior to the slaughter.

- stunning is permitted as long as the animal does not die in the process of stunning

- ‘every Muslim is trustworthy’ so don’t ask friends if the food is halal if you are eating in their house!

Enjoy your food now!