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I was reading The Issue of Halal Meat, which is linked to in an answer to this question. Towards the end, it claims

The law concerning meat is so strict that even if the meat leaves the sight of a Muslim into the care of a Kaafir at any time after slaughtering till the time of consumption, then such meat cannot be eaten and is said to be Haram.

Does anyone know what verses support this? Does this mean that if I buy Halal meat, which is then cooked for me by a non-Muslim, that the meat becomes Haram?

As I am the only Muslim in my family, this would imply that I must do all of the family's cooking (of meat) myself. Have I understood this correctly?

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    I am not sure, but I would say this is an unreliable site, it provides absolutely no citations and makes some incredibly big claims for them not to have citations. I am not saying that this site is unreliable, please dont misunderstand for all I know it could be very reliable.
    – مجاهد
    Commented Oct 6, 2012 at 19:45
  • @David, I have answered that question, which you refer in you question. After your question I again go to that site and explore it in detail. That is food selling site. I think I should remove it from my answer. I tried to be helpful but it is creating more confusion.
    – Kashif
    Commented Oct 7, 2012 at 9:56

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No, it does not become haram when prepared by a non-Muslim.

There are five simple conditions that must be met for meat to be considered halal. I have pages of discussion and notes on this, so permit me to summarize:

  • Intelligence: He has to understand and intend to slaughter, on purpose. (This excludes accidental/unintentional slaughtering.)
  • Religion: He has to be a Muslim, or a Christian, or a Jew. No other religion.
  • Instrument Used: It must be slaughtered by a sharp tool, such as a knife. No blunt objects, bludgeoning, stunning to death, etc.
  • Cut the four veins: There are four "veins" that make up the "perfect" cut -- esophagus, two jugular veins, and trachea. There's a difference about if you don't get all four.
  • You must say "bismillah" (in the name of Allah/God Almighty) before slaughtering. Yes, even if you're a Christian or Jew.

Notice there is no condition #6 that says that "you must always have Muslim eyes on it until it reaches a Muslim house," or anything similar.

In fact, we know cases where rasulullah ate at the house of a Jewish man or a woman (the latter being after the conquest of Khaybar). Think about this. He walked into an invitation in the house of a non-Muslim in a non-Muslim land and ate their food. So subhanallah, we see that Islam is easy, from the best of the best of the best.

If you're interested in more, deep details, please open more questions. There are differences of opinion (and tons of details) about the five conditions and the implications from madhab to madhab.

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    AFAIK different schools have different views about this :). So add citations for each point
    – Tachyons
    Commented Oct 7, 2012 at 2:40
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    @tachyons if this were a question on the conditions of dhabiha then such detail would be warranted.
    – Ansari
    Commented Oct 7, 2012 at 2:57
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    Yes, there is "Islamic way of slaughtering" and not "Muslims doing slaughtering", however, there are some points left to be discussed. According to Quran non-Muslims are not clean (many scholars have debate on this, to be honest) so that if their hands are wet during cooking that would be problematic, as we could only eat clean foods.
    – owari
    Commented Oct 7, 2012 at 11:16
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    @owari if you are talking about shia/jafari fiqh, sure. My answer is the only five conditions necessary in sunni schools of fiqh. I don't believe there are any major other conditions necessary, and certainly the condition David asks about is not one of them.
    – ashes999
    Commented Oct 7, 2012 at 16:04
  • @DavidWallace I cannot comment on the shi'a view, since I don't know it. You need to ask owari about that. When I studied this issue, these are the only five conditions that scholars mentioned, at all. Not all agree to the necessity of the fifth.
    – ashes999
    Commented Oct 8, 2012 at 11:27
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As per many U`lama, yes...I consulted Shaykh Sayyid Turab al-Haq's answer on this topic and he says that there must be Muslim eyes on it at all times. This is also the fatwa of the Hanafi scholar, Imam Ahmad Rida Khan rahmatullahi alayh.

Allah knows best

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