Shafaqna English- Questions on Muslims issues in the West and answers from the Grand Ayatollah Sistani based on the text of the book: “A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West” by ‘Abdul Hadi As-Seyyed Muhammad Taqi Al-Hakim.
Question & Answer
Question: Is it permissible to buy meat thinking that it is slaughtered according to Islamic laws from a super-market owned by a Muslim who [also] sells alcoholic drinks?
Answer: Yes, it is permissible; and it is halal to eat, even if it previously came from a non-Muslim as long as there is a likelihood that the shopkeeper has ascertained that it was slaughtered according to the Shari‘a Laws; but not if there is no such likelihood.
Related Question
Question 1: Some of the cheese manufactured in non-Muslim countries contain rennet extracted from the calf or other animals. We do not know whether the rennet was taken from the animal that was slaughtered according to Islamic Laws; neither do we know that it has transformed into something else. So is it permissible to eat such cheese?
Answer: There is no problem in eating such cheese.
Question 2: Gelatine is used in a number of drinks and food items in the West. We do not know that gelatin has been extracted from a vegetable or an animal source; and that if it is from an animal, is it from its bones or from the tissues around the bones; neither do we know if the animal was one that is Halal for us or Haram. Are we allowed to eat such gelatine?
Answer: It is permissible to eat if the doubt is whether it has been extracted from an animal or vegetable. But, if it is known that it was derived from an animal, then it is not permissible to eat without ascertaining that the animal was slaughtered according to Shari‘a. This prohibition applies, as a matter of obligatory precaution, even if it was extracted from animal bones.
Of course, if a chemical change occurs in the original ingredients during the process of manufacturing the gelatine, there is no problem at all in eating it. Similarly, even if one has doubt whether the animal was slaughtered Islamically or not, still there is no problem in adding the gelatine [made from that animal] to the food in such a minute amount that it is completely absorbed in it.
- Religious questions in Graph
- Ayatollah Sistani’s fatwas
- Religious questions and answers
- Shia answers
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Source: sistani.org