What is Halal Meat?

Halal meat is safer, healthier, and tastier.

For the last two days, I couldn't get Brian Garrigan's tweet out of my mind. Mr. Garrigan is an Irish businessman who unsuccessfully ran as an independent candidate in the 2020 general election and this year's council elections.

He has made some controversial remarks in the past, which some may interpret as Islamophobic and anti-immigrant. Recently, he was spared jail after a judge in Dublin ruled that Garrigan had broken the law but gave him a chance to avoid a recorded conviction by donating €500 to the Make-A-Wish children's charity.

On March 7, Brian Garrigan's tweet appeared in my Twitter feed, which read:

"Do you think Halal should be banned because of its cruelty to animals? YES NO If YES, I will follow you back."

Personally, I don't care about following him on Twitter or whether he is a carnivore or vegetarian. However, in defense of Islam, I decided to respond indirectly by writing an article about how "halal meat" is better, safer, and that the method of slaughtering animals in the Islamic way is more humane and compassionate.

To begin with, Muslims cannot eat the following types of meat:

• Pork and pork products: Explicitly forbidden in Islam.
• Dead meat (carrion): Meat from animals that died from causes other than proper slaughter.
• Strangled animals.
• Animals beaten to death.
• Animals killed by a fall.
• Animals killed by goring with the horn.
• Animals eaten by wild beasts, except if still alive and slaughtered. (Quran: 5:3)

Muslims are commanded to avoid slaughtering animals when there is no need, as it is better to let them continue grazing. Almighty God will appreciate and reward such acts of mercy.

Under Islamic law, animals intended for human consumption must be slaughtered in specific ways. That defines "halal" slaughter or what makes meat halal (permissible in Arabic) for Muslims. Contrary to some misconceptions, halal slaughter is considered the most humane method available in meat processing and is acceptable to Muslim consumers. Halal meat is also safer, healthier, and tastier. Here are the conditions of halal slaughter:

• The animal must be alive at the time of slaughter.
• The animal can't be sick.
• The animal can't be pregnant.
• The animal must be slaughtered using a sharp knife in one stroke, without lifting the knife.
• The name of Allah must be invoked during slaughter by saying: Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem.
• The slaughter must be performed by a sane adult Muslim (man or woman).
• Any knife used for slaughtering pigs should not be used during halal slaughter.
• It is recommended to offer water to the animal before slaughter, and it should not be slaughtered when hungry.
• The knife should be hidden from the animal, and slaughtering should be done out of sight of other animals waiting to be slaughtered.
• The head of the animal must not be cut off during slaughter but only after the animal is dead.
• Skinning or cutting any part of the animal is not allowed before the animal is completely dead.
• All kinds of seafood are lawful (halal) for Muslims to consume. It makes no difference whether seafood is dead or alive, and it does not have to be slaughtered in a specific way.

I dedicate this article to my good friends in Ireland and to Brian Garrigan (57), the businessman who was accused of engaging in threatening, abusive, and insulting behavior after his water was cut off by road workers who refused to turn it back on over the weekend. His tweet on March 7, 2025, prompted me to write this article.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelancer for Islamicity.com and ColumbusFreepress.com. He can be reached at [email protected].