My question is in reference to the Ayah, 5 of "Surat Al Maidha" food of the people of the book is lawful to the Muslim. Although we have Halal food in such a big city like New York, sometimes we face difficulty to get it due to the nature of work distace from the Muslim communities, travelling within the country, food service in work places offered by employer and invitation. Is it Halal according to the Ayah to eat such food from "people of the books" restaurants and eating food offered at work offered by the employer. Bearing in mind that the scholars raised the issue of some people of the book, Christians eat pork. They use cooking equipment, such as knife, oil for all kinds of food. Another issue is how the animal was slaughtered (zabh). We hear that animals are being killed in another way than we Muslims do, such as electric shock by not allowing the blood to flow. To avoid the conflict of pork and beef, we sometimes eat chicken but still there is an issue of (zabh)! Is it required zabh or any means of killing that is acceptable? I am just raising what is happening within our daily arguments, and not necessarily applicable to me.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Here are the details of the ruling concerning the matters you asked about, which is about the meat that is sold in shops, restaurants and markets in Europe and America.

In principle, this meat is considered as that of animals slaughtered by the People of the Book, such meat is lawful for Muslims. But it is proved that a considerable quantity of the meat in the markets of these countries does not fit into this category because most of this meat originates from animals that were not slaughtered in the legal way, which requires cutting the pharynx and the jugular vein. In fact, most of these animals are killed through electrical shock, gunshot or strangling.

The meat of any animal that is killed by any of these means or the like is forbidden to Muslims. It seems that most of the sheep and cows slaughtered in these countries are killed by one of the above ways. It seems, however, that only a small percentage of chicken is killed in those ways, i.e. strangulation, as the chicken is put in hot water before having its head cut off. If the chicken is slaughtered by cutting the head off, it is then lawful if slaughtered by the People of the Book. This is what we have been told about slaughtering in those countries. We consider the ways of slaughtering practiced in America are better than those in Europe.

So one should be more cautious when buying cow, goat and sheep meat than when buying chicken because the probability of the death being caused before slaughtering is greater in sheep, goat and cows than in chicken as stated by an authority who knows such factories. We advise the brothers who live in such countries to take the following into consideration:

1. Try to know the factories that do not slaughter in the legal way and avoid their meat.

2. There are two kinds of slaughtered animals in the European and American markets that are considered of the People of the Book. They apply the legal way of slaughtering:

- Animals slaughtered by the religious Christians who are known to apply such rules: The AMESH group and the like.

- The animals slaughtered by the Jews. The meat that is designated for the Jews is known by a special trademark. Muslims are allowed to eat the meat of both religious Christians and Jews.

- (Unfortunately, the meat of animals slaughtered by Muslims is not enough most of the time).

If in the absence of these alternates you find meat exposed in the market and you are unable to identify the company that slaughtered it, you could buy it as long as you think that it is slaughtered by the People of the Book because Allah Says (what means): {… and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you.} [Quran 5: 5]

Allah also Says (what means): {So fear Allah as much as you are able.} [Quran 64:16]

But if there is real doubt about the true origin of this meat or if the number of butchers who are not from the People of the Book, becomes great in a given region, then one should be very careful before deciding to purchase such meat, making sure that it does not originate from factories that employ such people (not from the People of the Book) in slaughtering. This could apply to some regions in USA like California where there are large Chinese, Japanese and Korean communities that are not from the People of the Book.

3. Under such circumstances one should be very cautious, as caution in religion is a must. In principle, the ruling concerning the slaughtering of the People of the Book is that their meat is lawful to us. Moreover, one ought to know that there is no "one rule" concerning such meat as each region has its own peculiarities. But the criteria we have put forward might help in choosing the lawful meat and avoiding the unlawful. This is about meat.

As for how to deal with utensils and knives that have remains of pork, we should ask the butcher or the server to use clean utensils. If that is impossible, we ask him to heat the knife or the utensil he uses if it touches the food directly.

This is the Fatwa that the Prophet issued to Abu Tha’labah when he asked him: “O Prophet of Allah! We live in a country of the People of the Book, are we allowed to eat in their utensils? The Prophet said: “If you find utensils other than those, do not eat in them. If you do not find that, then clean them and eat in them.” [Al-Bukhari]

Purifying can also be done by merely wiping off the knife with a piece of cloth, or the like, so strongly as to remove all impurities. As for the dairy products, cheese and juices, they sometimes contain some pork in them such as the rennet and the pork fat.

So, before consuming any canned food one should read the components usually shown on the can. In general, the company writes a detailed description of the components of the product. The person should then act according to that notice. But if there is an ambiguous expression, such as "animal fat" or "animal" without specifying the animal from which it derives (beef/pork), one should be very cautious, as most of the time, this is derived from pork. It is then safer to avoid it.

Here again, we would like to point out that the Jewish food that is marked with the symbol K (Kosher) is lawful to Muslims, as it is free from pork because the Jews consider pork and its derivatives forbidden.

1. We are not asked to search thoroughly as it is enough to read what is on the can package and act accordingly. Allah Says (what means): {…and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty.} [Quran 22:78] There is no reason to doubt what is written on the can or package.

2. As for shampoo, different kinds of soap, body creams… etc, their issue is less difficult because they are not eatable or drinkable and what is in them is very little and has been treated chemically so as to become a different product. So, there is no harm in it because of its small quantity and of its being changed into another product by chemical treatment. But if there are products that do not contain any pork or alcohol, then they are preferable and safer.

It is emphasized to avoid such products if the percentage of pork fat or alcohol exceeds 10 % compared with the other components of the same product. Note, however, that one should be more cautious about pork fat as it is undoubtedly an impurity whereas there is a difference of opinion among the scholars as regards the impurity of alcohol.

Finally, know that America is a Christian country, because Christians are a majority in it and they are the one, who have the power.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 393961, 330952, 82899, 84072, and 127050.

Allah knows best.