Will My Prayers Be Accepted if I Consume Machine-Slaughtered Poultry?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

As a Hanafi Muslim, I follow strict dietary rules. I sometimes end up eating machine-slaughtered chicken by accident.

Is this something blameworthy to the extent that a person’s supplications and duas are not accepted for 40 days, or do we just repent, move on and take a dispensation from Shafi school (if any) in case of accidental consumption? As sometimes, it becomes extremely difficult when with friends and family to avoid due to its widespread availability.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

I pray you are in good faith and health.

Some scholars say that in light of the evidence taken by some of the most trusted fiqh academies in the world, it is possible to say that mechanical slaughter may be allowed conditionally. Although mindfulness (taqwa) is to refrain from eating these types of slaughtered poultry, this is why it can have its toll on one’s worship, supplications, and life in general.

One should seek forgiveness, repent if eaten, and always try to consume and find non-mechanically slaughtered poultry. [Usmani, Buhuth fi Qadaya Fiqhiyya Mu’asara]

Related Answers
Can We Eat Machine Slaughtered Meat? – SeekersGuidance
Issues of Mechanical Slaughter and Stunning – Halal Monitoring Committee (halalhmc.org)
The Fiqh of Mechanical Slaughter

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I pray this helps with your question.

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey.

He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.

He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His personal interest is the love of books and gardening.