Can Muslims eat Subway or McDonald's chicken?

Yasir Qadhi follows the majority position (Hanbali, Hanafi, and Maliki for Muslim slaughterers) that it is NOT permissible to eat meat commonly available in Western supermarkets. Three reasons: (1) bismillah is not mentioned at slaughter, which is an explicit Quranic requirement; (2) it cannot be assumed the slaughterer is a believing Christian or Jew given rising atheism and agnosticism; (3) the mechanism of slaughter (stunning, vertical cuts) introduces further uncertainty. Kosher meat, however, IS halal as it follows a strict supervised process that explicitly invokes God's name. Shafi'i and some Maliki scholars permit western market meat; those who follow that position are following a valid madhab, but should not dismiss the stronger concerns.

Is it halal to eat non-zabiha meat in America?

Yasir Qadhi follows the majority position (Hanbali, Hanafi, and Maliki for Muslim slaughterers) that it is NOT permissible to eat meat commonly available in Western supermarkets. Three reasons: (1) bismillah is not mentioned at slaughter, which is an explicit Quranic requirement; (2) it cannot be assumed the slaughterer is a believing Christian or Jew given rising atheism and agnosticism; (3) the mechanism of slaughter (stunning, vertical cuts) introduces further uncertainty. Kosher meat, however, IS halal as it follows a strict supervised process that explicitly invokes God's name. Shafi'i and some Maliki scholars permit western market meat; those who follow that position are following a valid madhab, but should not dismiss the stronger concerns.

Is kosher meat halal for Muslims?

Yasir Qadhi follows the majority position (Hanbali, Hanafi, and Maliki for Muslim slaughterers) that it is NOT permissible to eat meat commonly available in Western supermarkets. Three reasons: (1) bismillah is not mentioned at slaughter, which is an explicit Quranic requirement; (2) it cannot be assumed the slaughterer is a believing Christian or Jew given rising atheism and agnosticism; (3) the mechanism of slaughter (stunning, vertical cuts) introduces further uncertainty. Kosher meat, however, IS halal as it follows a strict supervised process that explicitly invokes God's name. Shafi'i and some Maliki scholars permit western market meat; those who follow that position are following a valid madhab, but should not dismiss the stronger concerns.

Does bismillah have to be said before slaughtering an animal?

Yasir Qadhi follows the majority position (Hanbali, Hanafi, and Maliki for Muslim slaughterers) that it is NOT permissible to eat meat commonly available in Western supermarkets. Three reasons: (1) bismillah is not mentioned at slaughter, which is an explicit Quranic requirement; (2) it cannot be assumed the slaughterer is a believing Christian or Jew given rising atheism and agnosticism; (3) the mechanism of slaughter (stunning, vertical cuts) introduces further uncertainty. Kosher meat, however, IS halal as it follows a strict supervised process that explicitly invokes God's name. Shafi'i and some Maliki scholars permit western market meat; those who follow that position are following a valid madhab, but should not dismiss the stronger concerns.

What is the Islamic ruling on eating meat in the West?

Yasir Qadhi follows the majority position (Hanbali, Hanafi, and Maliki for Muslim slaughterers) that it is NOT permissible to eat meat commonly available in Western supermarkets. Three reasons: (1) bismillah is not mentioned at slaughter, which is an explicit Quranic requirement; (2) it cannot be assumed the slaughterer is a believing Christian or Jew given rising atheism and agnosticism; (3) the mechanism of slaughter (stunning, vertical cuts) introduces further uncertainty. Kosher meat, however, IS halal as it follows a strict supervised process that explicitly invokes God's name. Shafi'i and some Maliki scholars permit western market meat; those who follow that position are following a valid madhab, but should not dismiss the stronger concerns.

Is it permissible to eat meat from Western supermarkets (Ahl al-Kitab meat)?

Full Lecture Transcript (Cleaned)

The Default Principle: Slaughtered Meat Is Haram Unless Proven Halal — 0:00

Unlike most things in the Sharia where the default is permissibility, ambiguous slaughtered meat is haram by default. If a plate of cooked meat is placed before you and you have no idea where it came from, the default is that it is haram. The onus of proof is on the one claiming the meat is halal.

Imam al-Nawawi writes in his Sharh Sahih Muslim: if there is doubt about whether an animal has been properly slaughtered, the default is that it has NOT been properly slaughtered — and there is no difference of opinion on this.

What Makes Slaughter Halal? — 0:00

The foundational hadith (Bukhari and Muslim): "Everything that causes the blood to gush out and you have mentioned the name of Allah — you may eat of that."

From this and other evidences, scholars derive three conditions:

The slaughterer must be a Muslim, Christian, or Jew (one who believes in Allah)

The animal must be alive at the time of the cut; a sharp instrument must cut at the throat level, severing at least one jugular vein to cause blood to flow

The name of Allah must be mentioned at the time of slaughter

Condition 1: Religion of the Slaughterer — 0:00

The Quran (5:5) says: "The food of those who were given the Book is halal for you." By unanimous scholarly consensus, this refers specifically to their slaughter, not all food (rice and vegetables need no such condition).

Why are Christians and Jews allowed but not Buddhists, Hindus, or atheists? Because: "Our God and your God is one" (29:46). Christians and Jews believe in the God of Abraham — the same God we do. When they mention His name over an animal, that invocation is valid. An atheist or Buddhist does not invoke the same God.

The modern complication: polls across Europe show roughly 49% of people do not affirm belief in God at all. In some Nordic countries, irreligion is the majority. To simply assume that all Western slaughterhouse workers are "believing Christians or Jews" is not a reliable assumption in much of Europe or even parts of North America.

In the deep south of the US (Texas, Alabama), Yasir Qadhi says he is personally comfortable making this assumption. In Vermont, Canada, or northern Europe, he is not.

Condition 2: Mechanism of Slaughter — 3:05

The animal must be alive when the knife crosses the throat. Western law generally requires stunning before slaughter.

Stunning in itself is makruh (discouraged) because it causes unnecessary suffering — but stunning does not make the meat haram unless the animal dies from the stunning before slaughter occurs.

For chickens: studies suggest the voltage used generally does not kill chickens — a negligible percentage die. Scholars are relatively comfortable here.

For cows: the stun gun (bolt pistol) fired into the forehead is more severe. Studies vary, but figures of 10–40% of cows dying before the knife reaches the throat have been cited. If an animal is already dead when slaughtered, it is mayta (carrion) — haram regardless of whether bismillah was said afterward.

A second issue: some slaughterhouses use a vertical cut (cutting downward through the trachea only) rather than the standard horizontal cut. This does NOT cause blood to flow from the jugular veins. Companies do this to keep blood inside the carcass for taste preferences — but without the blood gushing, the slaughter is invalid according to the prophetic hadith.

Condition 3: Bismillah — The Decisive Issue — 27:28

This is the crux of the matter. Three of the four madhabs (Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki) hold that saying the name of Allah at slaughter is obligatory (wajib), even for a kitabi slaughterer:

The Quran (6:121): "Do not eat of that over which Allah's name has not been mentioned — for indeed that is a sin"
The Quran (6:118): "Eat of that over which Allah's name has been mentioned, if you believe in Him"
The Quran (22:34-36): multiple verses command mentioning Allah's name over sacrificial animals
The hunting hadith (Bukhari/Muslim): the Prophet (ﷺ) said eat what your trained dog catches if you said bismillah when you sent it out; if another dog ate from the prey and you don't know which killed it, do not eat, because you said bismillah over your dog, not the other

Ibn Taymiyya wrote: "The obligation of saying bismillah before slaughter is more clearly established in the Quran and Sunnah than the obligation of reciting al-Fatiha during Salah."

The Shafi'i madhab alone holds that bismillah is Sunnah but not wajib — and therefore kitabi meat without bismillah is permissible. The Maliki madhab distinguishes: wajib for the Muslim, but not required of the kitabi.

Yasir Qadhi's position follows the majority. Western supermarket meat involves a completely secular, agnostic institutional process. No name of God is mentioned. No religious symbolism takes place. On this basis alone, the meat is impermissible.

Kosher Meat Is Halal — 53:52

The Quranic verse about the food of Ahl al-Kitab refers precisely to meat like kosher:

A qualified rabbi must be physically present, supervising every slaughter
One stroke of the knife is required; multiple cuts are not allowed
The knife must be of a specific length and sharpness
The formula said in Hebrew translates as: "Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Lord of the Worlds, who has sanctified us through His commandments and instructed us concerning proper animal slaughter"

Kosher law is, in many respects, stricter than Islamic halal requirements. Yasir Qadhi says he personally buys kosher meat and trusts its process more than many halal shops — not for political reasons, but for procedural reliability.

Note: kosher products broadly (wine, etc.) are a separate discussion. This ruling is specifically about kosher meat.

Practical Conclusion — 1:03:00

Yasir Qadhi follows the majority position: western supermarket meat is not permissible
Those following the Shafi'i or Maliki position have a valid basis; there should be no hostility between the two camps
A friend who is Shafi'i eats only chicken (not beef) in certain states, due to the stunning/death concern with cows — a principled approach within that madhab
We need a national halal certification body with governmental recognition, similar to how Jewish communities have kosher certification in federal law
For machine-slaughtered chicken: the Global Fiqh Council (1997) ruled that one bismillah said by a Muslim or kitabi for each continuous batch of chickens is sufficient — it does not need to be per chicken, but it must be said by a human, not a recording
The "halal but not zabiha" distinction is a cultural, not a fiqh distinction: for Hanafis and Hanbalis, zabiha IS halal — the circle of permissibility is just smaller than for Shafi'is