We all have heard of the word “Halal”, do we know
what goes in to the process of Halal? There is a need to open people’s eyes
about this issue. Halal is the Arabic word for “lawful” or “permitted”. Halal
is the word that is used in reference to foods and drinks that are permissible
for Muslims to eat or drink under Islamic Shariah law.
What
is Haram food?
In regard to halal, there is also a term ‘haram’
that signifies the food that can not be eaten by Muslims. This food is pork
meat, so other than pork Muslims are allowed to eat any animal. The food that
is haram for Muslims includes blood, pork, alcoholic drinks, and most
importantly the animals which are not killed by the process of Halal. Halal
also forbids consumption of some carcass parts including the testicles and
bladder.
What
is halal food?
Muslims eat only that food which comes from a
supplier that uses halal practices. Specifically, the slaughter must be
performed by a Muslim, who must do the slaughter by invoking the name of Allah
and then saying three times "Allahu akbar" (God is the greatest). Animals
must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood should be
drained from the carcass. The animal being slaughtered must face Mecca. During
the process, a Muslim will recite a dedication, known as tasmiya or shahada. Then,
the animal must be slaughtered with a sharp knife by cutting the throat,
windpipe and the blood vessels in the neck, causing the animal's death without cutting
the spinal cord. Lastly, the blood from the veins must be drained. This is such inhumane and painful process
that the animal dies slow and painful death.
Halal meat requires that the animal should be alive
and conscious at the moment its throat is cut. In the Quran, it is provided that
the animal should listen to the prayers of Allah. If it’s unconscious, then it
won’t be able to do that. In the halal process animal is not killed in one go
rather the animal slides on the ground, gets onto its knees, regains its feet
with its throat gushing out the blood. To stop the animal from getting up
again, the slaughterman slashes the tendon of its rear leg. The tongue of the
animal comes out and the poor animal is so distressed. On particular festivals,
animal after animal is sliced openly while they are fully conscious. They make
pitiful bleating and gurgling sounds as they choke in their own blood. It is a
chilling sound that, once heard, stays with you for days. The ritual involves
binding the animal, typically around the muzzle or legs, and slitting the
throat. The animal will eventually bleed out in a painful and gruesome display.
Many times the animal is beaten, sometimes to death, before the blood is
drained. Halal slaughter during the month of Eid is performed as a public
ritual, often in the open streets of Muslim communities. Blood from the
countless sacrifices pools in the public squares and is tracked around by
spectators.
Support
for Halal in Quran and Hadith:
Isn’t it shameful and inhumane? Killing the animals
is so much painful way? Which religion or which God allows killing living
beings in such horrendous way? Quranic verses regarding halal foods include:
2:173, 5:5, and 6:118-119, 121. I don’t think any other religion describes
topics like the method of killing of animals, that too in so ghastly manner. The
requirement to invoke Allah's name is a must for slaughter of any animal in
halal. Kosher meats, which are
consumed by Jews, are permitted to be eaten by Muslims because there is a similarity
between their method of slaughter and halal meat.
Some investigators on the
other hand claim that nowhere in the Quran does it say that
animals have to be slaughtered in this way. No Muslim is bound by his or her
religion to eat halal meat. It also says that while the blood must be drained
from the body it doesn’t have to happen while the animal is alive.
Such a painful process of halal is demanded by fundamentalists
and its source is Hadith – teachings
written 300 years after the Prophet died. These teachings are used to justify
hard-line views. The confusion about these teachings is exploited to mislead
both Muslims and non-Muslims. In India, the killing of animal is done in a
swift blow called “Jhatka” in which there is an instant beheading with one
single strike. This process reduces the pain for the animal.
Criticism
of halal meat in Britain:
Globally, halal food has been criticized by
anti-Halal lobby groups and animal rights activists. The British Veterinary
Association, along with citizens who assembled a petition with 100,000
signatures, have raised concerns regarding a proposed halal abattoir in Wales,
in which animals are not to be stunned prior to killing.
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) says that
“all animals should be effectively stunned before slaughter to improve the
welfare of these animals” and killing animals without stunning them causes
“unnecessary suffering”.
In Feb. 2015 a horrific footage was secretly filmed
in an abattoir in North Yorkshire that raised anger among animal rights
activists. This gruesome video showed sheep being "hacked to death". Four
slaughtermen had their operating licenses suspended by the Food Standards
Agency in the light of the footage. The film showed the Muslim workers kicking
sheep in the face and hurling them into solid structures.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that there
has been a sharp rise in the number of animals killed in abattoirs without
first being stunned, after some Muslim groups campaigned for the adoption of
more traditional practices. The British government has no intention of banning
religious slaughter, may be due to the large Muslim population living there.
This Muslim appeasement is a tool to secure Muslim votes in elections.
Are the animals conscious when they are
killed?
Some animals killed for halal meat in the UK are
stunned electrically before their throats are slit. The method, known as
"pre-stunned slaughter", aims to minimise pain felt by the animal.
But Muslims think that the practice is contrary to the specifications of zabiha and prefer to eat halal meat that
has not been pre-stunned. In this case the animals are fully conscious at the
time of their killing.
Let
us look at few numbers:
About 40 million cattle, sheep, pigs and calves and
900 million poultry birds are killed in British abattoirs each year and one
estimate has suggested that 114million of these animals, including poultry, are
killed using the halal method. The value of the market could be £2bn a year or
more. Vets say unstunned cattle take about 20 seconds (but up to 2 minutes) to
lose consciousness, sheep six or seven seconds (but up to 20) and poultry seven
or eight seconds, but all these times can be far longer. Campaigners are urging
the government to introduce clear labeling to say whether meat is slaughtered
by halal methods. So, that people who are not Muslims or who are against halal
meat, they should know while buying whether the animal was killed by Halal or
not. By not labeling the Halal food, unknowingly people are following Muslim
laws.
Stunning cannot be used to kill an animal, according
to the Halal Food Authority (HFA), a non-profit organisation that monitors
adherence to halal principles in the UK. But it can be used if the animal
survives and is then killed by halal methods, the HFA adds. The Halal Food
Authority, estimates that a staggering 25% of the entire UK meat market is
halal. But Muslims are about 5% of the UK population, therefore there is as
much as 5 times more halal meat than Muslims. Many slaughterhouses have chosen
to move to halal processes so they do not lose Muslim customers.
Stunning
of livestock in Europe:
Stunning of livestock has been mandatory in the EU
since 1979, but member states can grant exemptions for religious slaughter. Some
countries, including Denmark, have decided to ban non-stunning slaughter
altogether. Concern about slaughtering, without prior stunning, has resulted in
the religious slaughter of animals being banned in Luxembourg, The Netherlands,
Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Criticism of halal meat in Australia:
In Australia, the national standard for meat
production requires that all animals must be effectively stunned (unconscious)
prior to slaughter. The vast majority of halal slaughter in Australia complies
with this standard. But there are a small number of abattoirs in Australia that
have been granted permission from the relevant State or Territory food
authority to conduct religious slaughter without prior stunning – for either
Halal or Kosher (Jewish slaughter) purposes. Currently, Australia is witnessing
a strong campaign to boycott
halal-certified food. Anti-
Halal groups claim that certification
pushes up prices and the money goes towards funding terrorism. On the other
hand for Muslims, Sharia requires that the animals should be killed by Muslims
only which leads to employment generation for Muslims in the west. So, even if
you are not educated enough, if you are a Muslim, one career opportunity is
safest for you – i.e. to become a slaughterman.
Live
meat export from Australia:
The combined value of live sheep and cattle exports for slaughter in 2012-2013
was $533 million. These
animals are sent to Muslim nations for Halal. There are revelations of routine
and unacceptable animal suffering of those animals exported live from
Australia, both onboard ships and in importing countries like Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Egypt, etc. The Australian Meat Industry Employee Union (AMIEU)
opposes the live export trade and estimates that the live export industry has
cost 40,000 meat workers' jobs. Apart from meat, there are products like
creams, soaps and chocolates that bear the label of Halal that indicates that
things forbidden by Islam for example alcohol has not been used in the
products.
In Muslim nations, cattle are stabbed, slashed and
butchered while still alive. There are horrendous conditions for animals being
shipped as during long haul voyages cattle are unable to stand. They suffer
debilitating injuries and are deprived of water during extreme heat. There were
deaths of more than 4,000 sheep who perished from heat-stress on a live export
voyage from Australia to the Middle East in 2013.
In another incident, 20,000 Australian sheep were
rejected by Bahrain for disease fears. An export company official allegedly
falsified documents to get them into Pakistan. When Pakistani authorities
discovered the deception, the animals were clubbed, stabbed and buried alive in
muddy trenches. Now Australia is planning to amend its laws to prohibit live
export after 2017.
Nexus
of Halal certification:
Muslim groups put pressure on companies to get Halal
certification. The Halal certification industry has grown worldwide. This certification
is obviously provided by a Muslim body, which charges a fees and checks the
products of a company for halal compliance. This certification is raking up $20
to $30 million a year in Australia alone. The anti Halal campaigners in
Australia insist that this money goes to fund Islamic Charities which have links
to terror groups like Hamas. Halal industry creates jobs for Muslims. On the
other hand Non-Muslims buy this expensive halal meat and unknowingly pay the
Zakat tax. The principle of “zakat” in Islamic law makes it obligatory for all
Muslims to give 2.5% of their income to charity. The extra money raised in this
way goes to fund terrorist organisations. It also leads to imposition of Shriah
law on Non-Muslims too. Even in India many local food vendors proudly claim to
carry Halal food, when it is forbidden under the Hindu laws. Many food outlets
like KFC, Subway, Pizza Express, etc. also carry label of Halal food.
Opposition
in Sri Lanka:
The Sinhalese Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka has
called for the abolition of the Muslim Halal system of certifying foods &
other goods and said NO to any new Mosques. They abhor the Halal ritual
slaughter which Muslims insist is necessary to produce halal meat. This
outdated 7th Century Ritual Slaughter is unnecessarily cruel to livestock. A
four year Dialrel Study carried out by Veterinary Scientists from many
countries of Europe concluded that halal ritual slaughter causes unnecessary
suffering to animals. Buddhist monks have urged Sri Lanka’s non-Muslim majority
to boycott any product with the Halal label and asked the government to outlaw
Islamic clerics issuing such certifications. Muslims make up less than 10% of
the Sri Lankan population , but the majority are seeing a rise in halal
certified products. This unwanted over-production of Halal products is
considered by the majority to be threatening their culture and their
valued traditions.
‘Festival
of Sacrifice’:
The ‘Festival of Sacrifice’ of Muslims is an
international religious festival but the cruelty that has come to be associated
with it has nothing to do with religion. In Jordan,
investigators documenting illegal sheep sales in roadside markets have reported
that one company was offering locals four live sheep in exchange for beating up
anyone with a camera. Malaysia, Mauritius, Jordan, Kuwait, Indonesia, Israel,
Gaza, Egypt — everywhere laws are being broken whether it be illegal sales,
cruel methods of restraint, or brutal street slaughter. Poor animals are
suffering the horrendous consequences every where. In Egypt in 2004 an abattoir
was declared a ‘benchmark’ for animal welfare despite eye stabbing and tendon
slashing of cattle being standard practice at this notorious facility.
In this festival only one animal is supposed to be
sacrificed per family but many are sacrificed. This slaughter is done in open
grounds with children watching. Many times the distressed animals are let loose
and cause stampede. Every year crores of animals are slaughtered this way with
the streets running with their blood.
The government in Denmark has been accused of
anti-Semitism after passing a law banning the religious slaughter of animals
for halal and kosher meat. Muslims have called it interference in their
religion. Even in the UK there is an ongoing campaign to ban Halal Slaughter houses and sale of Halal
Meat. Russia has denied Muslims the right to celebrate the Eid al-Adhu (Feast
of Sacrifice).
After going through all
these facts, I feel what kind of religion is this that tells humans to kill
animals so painfully and mercilessly. Can’t the festivals be enjoyed without
giving painful deaths to poor animals? India is a Hindu majority nation and
Hinduism teaches to have compassion for all living beings. Various animals are
worshipped by Hindus. But in India, people kill animals in the name of religion
or “festival of sacrifice”. Why we are silent? Respecting all forms of life is
integral to Hinduism. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism agree in their support of
nonviolence and a meatless lifestyle. Many deeply religious souls in the West too
eat meat because it is sanctioned in their holy books. Jains even follow
dietary codes regulating the types of plants they eat. Hinduism believes that vegetarianism
promotes spiritual life.
Recently, in Maharashtra, cow
slaughter was banned. The punishment for the sale of beef or possession of
it could be prison for five years with an additional fine of Rs 10,000. If
such a law can be passed by one state then, why not by the central government
for whole country?
In reaction to this ban, in
a shameful incident, Christians and Muslims of Kerela state arranged a beef
feast free for all. Beef was cooked in the open. Beef is the most-favoured meat
in the state. The annual sale of beef is estimated at 2.3 lakh metric
tonnes against the corresponding figure for poultry -- 1.51 lakh metric tonnes.
Digging into the beef
curry before returning to the Assembly, CPM legislator P Sreeramakrishnan said,
"I eat my beef. And so do many others in Kerala. Nothing will
change." This is the shameful state in a Hindu majority country. Can
Muslims or any other community dare to arrange a pork feast in Pakistan, Oman,
Saudi Arabia or Egypt?
It is high time for the
animal rights activists and some organisations like RSS and VHP to take a stand
against such killings of poor animals in the name of religion. No God can be
made happy by killing animals. It is not religious freedom rather it is bringing
shame to religions.
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