Full Lecture Transcript (Cleaned)
The Question — 0:00
Brother Ishaq from Minnesota asks: is Wagyu beef halal? He mentions that the cows are fed beer. Yasir Qadhi finds the question amusing — partly because he is something of a foodie himself.
The Beer Myth — 0:40
First things first: please do your research before asking questions. Think about it without even Googling — do you really think anyone is going to feed beer to cows? The image alone is somewhat absurd.
This is a common misconception about Wagyu. For those unfamiliar: Wagyu refers to a specific type of beef originating primarily from Japan, famous for its extraordinary marbling of fat and meat, a quality not found in other cattle. Kobe is a type of Wagyu. It is among the most expensive — if not the most expensive — steak in the world.
The reason Wagyu is expensive is simple: supply and demand. Consider ajwa dates in Madinah — they cost the same to plant and harvest as any other date, yet they sell for five times the price of regular dates. Why? Because people want them. Wagyu is the same. When people want something and the supply is limited, the price goes up. That is basic economics.
Wagyu cows are not fed beer. This is a myth.
The Underlying Fiqh Principle — 2:00
However, the question opens an interesting fiqh discussion. Suppose, theoretically, a cow did ingest something impure (najas). What then?
If an animal ingests a small amount of najas on its own — without the farmer deliberately feeding it — this is overlooked by unanimous consensus of all the scholars of Islam. You cannot realistically expect any farm animal to eat without some impurity ever entering its body. Animals eat and drink in conditions we don't control.
However, if the amount of najas fed to the animal is large enough to affect the quality of its meat — its taste, smell, or color — then in that scenario, the scholars say it is makruh to slaughter and eat that animal until it has been kept away from that substance for a period of time, allowing the effect to clear from its system.
The key distinction is: if you are the farmer, you may not deliberately feed the animal najas. But if the animal ingests a small amount inadvertently, this is pardoned.
Conclusion — 3:00
Wagyu beef is halal — of course, provided it has been slaughtered according to dhabiha or is kosher. The beer-feeding story is simply not true, and even if it were, a small amount of najas ingested by an animal does not render it haram.
Yasir Qadhi closes with a disclaimer: setting aside the question of beef, when it comes to actually cooking the steak, he says there is really only one acceptable method — medium rare — and all other positions are unsound. (He then clarifies that was a joke.)