Eating Chicken/Meat From Certified Halal Stores

Question: Is it permissible to eat chicken/meat from a company that is certified Halal, such as HMC?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The three criteria for a valid slaughter are:

(1) The one slaughtering must be a Muslim, a Jew, or a Christian
(2) The animal must be slaughtered with a sharp object and three out of the four vessels must be cut. The four vessels are the windpipe (trachea), the food pipe, and the two jugular veins.
(3) The name of Allah must be pronounced at the time of the slaughter; if mistakenly omitted – the meat remains permissible (halal), if intentionally omitted – the meat is forbidden (haram).

[Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Certifications

Since it is difficult for each individual to slaughter their own animals or to be present during the slaughtering process, certain organizations have taken it upon themselves to ensure the slaughtering is done according to the criteria. Thus if an organization verifies that the above three conditions are met – the meat is permissible for you to eat.

Caution

It is important to know that many organizations have very loose criteria and follow minority opinions (such as machine slaughtering). Even some organizations have been found to be cheating the system and falsely claiming their meat as halal.

For this reason, one should research the integrity of the certifying organization and whether the organization makes its judgments on the basis of sound knowledge.

Some organizations bring scholars on board as overseers.

Summary

With a bit of research, one can find the criteria by which an organization declares something halal. Compare those criteria to the above and decide. Consult the scholars of your area and ask them where they buy their meat.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
Yusuf Weltch

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a graduate from Tarim; a student of Habib Umar and other luminaries; and authorized teachers of the Qur’an and the Islamic sciences