Question:

Salam,

Recently on your AskHalal Resolution Group a bulletin was sent out about Kirkland brand being circulated with CHFCA stamp as Halal Zabiha. It mentioned that CHFCA allows machine slaughter, hence it is not acceptable and we should demand Costco to bring back ZamZam.

I have been shared with the following response from Imam Qamrul Khanson of CHFCA.

Could you please review the response and inform us if it clears the doubts and can we accept their procedure to be Shar’an acceptable for Zabiha?

“Mar. 25 2023
Alaieykum As Salaam Wa Rahmatullohi Wa Barakatohu,

First of all, never ever say to any Zabeeha products, slaughtered by Muslims as Non-Halaal.

Secondly, all Kirkland Halaal products are slaughtered by Muslims reciting Tasmiyah Takbeer Bismillahi Allohu Akbar on all passing Zabeeha chickens, Turkeys, and other Zabeeha birds.

All are 100% Halaal. For the sake of Allah, do not listen to the rumor mongers, they would be accountable on the Day of Resurrection.

Hand Halaal Slaughtered (HHS) and Automated Halaal Slaughtered (AHS) both are processed by machine operations but HHS uses Hand Held Knife and AHS use Automated Knife. Same blessers are in both sides/plants, there is no difference between HHS and AHS as both are 100% Halaal.

CHFCA certifies HHS and AHS but CHFCA does not certify Machine Slaughtered where tape runs the blessings in the absence of Muslim Blessers. CHFCA does not certify Machine Slaughtering.

Sincerely
Imam Qamrul Khanson
Director: HACCP and Halaal Food Certification
Canadian Halal Food Certifying Agency (CHFCA)

Please also note that the Halal Brand in market by the name of “Maple Lodge’s Zabiha Halal” is certified by CHFCA and has also shared a similar letter attached herewith.

[** Multiple questions have been combined for on answer]
Documents Attached:

Document Owner: Maple Lodge Farms; Date Pdf Created: 5th April 2023; Click to Enlarge

Certificate Download Date: 1st June 2023; Original Pdf: Halal_Certificate_combined_Jan_2021-Dec_-2023-156.pdf

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

At the outset, we would like to make it abundantly clear that we are not of the position that machine slaughtered animals are all ḥarām. Rather, we insist that the method used for machine slaughter be in conformance to the laws of Sharīʿah in both form and spirit.[1] Doing this would render the machine slaughtered animals ḥalāl.

One tasmiyah (Bismillāh Allāhuakbar) is valid for only one iteration of the slaughtering instrument. When we use the word iteration, it refers to the repetition of a process, and the ḥalāl slaughter of the animal is not just one action – it is a process that is comprised of three actions.

Traditionally, one iteration consisted of:

1. 1. A Muslim, Jew, or Christian taking the name of Allāh,
   2. then the same person pushing a knife down i.e., initiating the motion of slaughter,
   3. immediately upon the neck of an animal.

If the motion of slaughter were to simultaneously, not consecutively, cut multiple animals, they would all be ḥalāl. On the other hand, if after the first motion, another motion was to take place immediately after, without a new tasmiyah, or with the tasmiyah being read by someone other than the slaughterer, the meat would not be ḥalāl because the second iteration of the slaughtering instrument lacked all of the necessary components of an iteration of slaughter.[2]

With the advent of modern methods of slaughter, it is necessary to identify what one iteration of the slaughtering instrument consists of. When a person presses the button to operate the slaughtering machine, he joins two pieces of metal together which allows the electricity to flow and give birth to motion in the slaughtering machine.[3] One iteration of slaughtering using a slaughtering machine would consist of three things:

1. 1. Tasmiyah must be read immediately prior to pressing the button. Any significant delay between the tasmiyah and the button being pressed would result in the slaughtered animal being ḥarām.[4]
   2. Pressing the button to operate the machine. This would initiate the motion of slaughter.
   3. Immediately after pressing the button (initiating the motion of slaughter), the animal would have to be slaughtered. A delay between the button being pressed and the animal being slaughtered would result in the slaughtered animal being ḥarām.[5]

These three components make up one iteration of slaughter. In the absence of any of these three components, the slaughtered animal will be ḥarām.

CHFCA’s Method of Slaughter

According to the CHFCA’s website (as of March 26, 2023), the method of slaughter is:

“Slaughtering of chicken through automation also requires at least a Muslim man who recites “In the name of God – God is Greater” on the chicken which are slaughtered by the automatic slaughtering blade with pre-determined measurement cutting carotid, jugular, pulmonary and oesophageal lines in the neck. In order for chickens slaughtered by machine to be Halal, the following conditions must be strictly met. If they are not met, the poultry will be considered Non-Halal:

The machine operator and or slaughterer must be sane and Muslim, Jew or Christian. A blessing or recitation incorporating the name of Almighty God must be articulated by the above operator when pressing the button to turn the machine on. The recitation is “In the name of God – God is Greater.”

A blessing or recitation incorporating the name of Almighty God must be articulated by the same operator on each and every chicken that is being slaughtered. Chickens must be alive during the ritual slaughter.”

Our Concerns

We have no objection to the first two paragraphs. However, the third paragraph states that the person who turned on the machine must recite tasmiyah on each chicken that is slaughtered. This is problematic for two reasons:

1. 1. Step #2 from the iteration of slaughter outlined above is missing. The animal slaughtered immediately after the pressing of the button can be attributed to one iteration of slaughter. This is because the direct action of the machine operator and the slaughter of the animal are connected, which would be equivalent to one motion of a knife made by a person. However, after the initial cut, it is not the same iteration of the machine operator that is leading to the slaughter of the chickens. Rather, it is a different iteration that is leading to the slaughter of each subsequent chicken. In order for the iteration to result in the next chicken being ḥalāl, a new action (button press) from the machine operator is required.

This could perhaps be understood by way of an example. Take a blade that, rather than continuously running, would only be activated when a motion sensor detected a chicken nearing the blade. If no chicken were detected, the blade would not rotate. If a machine operator were to press a button that, rather than turning on the blade, would turn on a motion sensor, would each chicken slaughtered be considered to be part of the same iteration of slaughter? It is obvious that the answer is no, even if the activation of the sensor which turns on the blade can be traced back to a single press of a button.

Similarly, even if a continuously turning blade can be attributed to the single press of a button, the hundreds of chickens being slaughtered could not be considered part of one iteration of slaughter.

In order for the slaughter of subsequent chickens to be ḥalāl, the machine operator would have to reinitiate the action of activating the machine to complete a new iteration of slaughter.

The system in place is tantamount to one person (in this case, the “person” is the blade) slaughtering chicken after chicken while another person stands next to him (in this case, the person who initially pressed the button) and says the tasmiyah. As stated earlier, animals slaughtered in this manner are ḥarām.

1. 2. There is a lack of consistency between the standards mentioned on CHFCA’s website and those of Maple Lodge Farms’ (as of April 5, 2023). Maple Lodge’s ḥalāl meat is certified by CHFCA, but their description of their slaughter process states:

“2. The blesser (emphasis added by us on singular) starts the processing line by reciting Allah’s name and Tasmiah (Bismillah Allahu Akbar). The blessers (emphasis on the plural added by us) continue to repeat this Tasmiah during the entire production at the time of slaughter.

5. A backup Muslim slaughterer is always on hand, ensuring that there is never a gap in the live blessings, and that every bird is accurately slaughtered.”

Both of these points imply that the initial machine operator is not the only one reading tasmiyah on the chickens. This is, a fortiori, in violation of the requirement of the tasmiyah being read by the slaughterer and not someone else.

Alternate Methods

As stated at the beginning, we are not in opposition to all forms of machine slaughter. In fact, according to the method outlined by CHFCA, the first bird slaughtered would be ḥalāl despite it being machine slaughtered due to all three components of one iteration of slaughter being present. Below are three alternated methods that could be employed which would result in machine slaughtered chickens being ḥalāl. In these methods, an additional person would be needed to ensure quality control. This person would inspect to see that the chickens were indeed slaughtered properly. If for some reason three of the four vessels (trachea, esophagus and two jugulars) were not cut, the chicken would have to be removed from the conveyor belt and slaughtered by hand.

1. A large singular rotary blade could be used to slaughter several chickens positioned around it with the press of a button. The blade would then come to a stop, completing one iteration of slaughter. The slaughtered chickens would then be moved via a conveyor belt to be inspected and a new set of chickens would be positioned around the blade. The button would be pressed again with tasmiyah to initiate a new iteration of slaughter.

2. Rather than using a rotary blade, a single long blade can be employed that will cut multiple chickens with each iteration. Pressing the button will result in the blade cutting the necks of the chicken and then returning to starting position. This would complete one iteration of slaughter.A new press of the button with tasmiyah would initiate a new iteration of slaughter and result in the blade cutting the necks of the next set of chickens.

3. A flexible blade could be developed that could slaughter several chickens in one turning. If such a blade were used, one pressing of the button with one tasmiyah would suffice to simultaneously slaughter several chickens in a ḥalāl manner as opposed to the method endorsed by CHFCA – one pressing of the button, with several tasmiyah, and several chickens slaughtered one by one.In the proposed modification, after pressing the button, the blade would only turn once and slaughter all the chickens simultaneously, with each one being ḥalāl. It would then come to a halt and the button would need to be re-pressed (with tasmiyah) for it to turn again for the next batch of chickens in second iteration.

It is up to the experts of the industry to determine whether any of these methods are more efficient, or if employing several slaughterers at once is more efficient.

And Allah Taʿālā Knows Best

Muftī Mohammed Wahaajuddin
Farmington Hills, MI
U.S.A

Checked and Approved with the following comments:

 It is our earnest desire that the Halal industry works tirelessly towards development and progress of mechanisms that will attain the highest and unmatched levels of Halal Standards.

However, this progress should not come at the expense of compromising on our Shar’i standards. We should not be looking for ways of settling for anything less than unanimously authenticated Halal.

In this endeavor, we should pride ourselves in R&D within our works and area of profession, which excels to new heights, while maintaining our standards as stringent and as strict as that of our Aslaaf (pious predecessors).

I hope that our words of guidance will be taken in the right spirit, and our Darul Iftaa is always available to listen to those in the field so that we may assist and help from Shar’i grounds.

And Allah Taʿālā Knows Best

Muftī Faisal bin Abdul Hamīd al-Mahmūdī
Darul Iftaa Canada, Edmonton
www.fatwa.ca

Checked and Approved
(Mufti) Mirza-Zain Baig, CSAA
Canadian Centre for Islamic Research and Iftaa (CCIRI)
www.cciri.ca

[1]

مفردات القرآن للراغب الأصفهاني، ص ٢٠٢، دار الكتب العلمية، الطبعة الرابعة
حقيقة التذكية إخراج الحرارة الغريزية لكن خص في الشرع بإبطال الحياة على وجه دون وجه.

[2]

الفتاوى الهندية، كتاب الذبائح، الباب الأول في ركن الذبح وشرائطه وحكمه وأنواعه، مطبعة الكبرى
ولو أضجع إحدى الشاتين على الأخرى تكفي تسمية واحدة إذا ذبحهما بإمرار واحد، ولو جمع العصافير في يده فذبح وسمى، وذبح آخر على أثره ولم يسم لم يحل الثاني، ولو أمر السكين على الكل جاز بتسمية واحدة، كذا في خزانة المفتين.

رد المحتار، كتاب الذبائح، ج٦ ص٣٠٢، سعيد
في الدر المختار: (وتشترط) التسمية من الذابح (حال الذبح) أو الرمي لصيد أو الإرسال أو حال وضع الحديد لحمار الوحش إذا لم يقعد عن طلبه كما سيجيء.(والمعتبر) (الذبح عقب التسمية قبل تبدل المجلس) حتى لو أضجع شاتين إحداهما فوق الأخرى فذبحهما ذبحة واحدة بتسمية واحدة حلا، بخلاف ما لو ذبحهما على التعاقب لأن الفعل يتعدد فتتعدد التسمية.

وفي الشامية: (قوله من الذابح) أراد بالذابح محلل الحيوان ليشمل الرامي والمرسل وواضع الحديد اهـ ح. واحترز به عما لو سمى له غيره فلا تحل

بدائع الصنائع، كتاب الذبائح ولصيود، ج٥ ص٤٨، سعيد
وأما شرائط الركن فمنها أن تكون التسمية من الذابح حتى لو سمى غيره والذابح ساكت وهو ذاكر غير ناس لا يحل؛ لأن المراد من قوله تبارك وتعالى:  ولا تأكلوا مما لم يذكر اسم الله عليه أي: لم يذكر اسم الله عليه من الذابح فكانت مشروطة فيه.

[3]

أحسن الفتاوى، ج٧ ص٤٧٣

 https://darulfiqh.com/a-research-on-mechanical-slaughter-3

[4]

رد المحتار، كتاب الذبائح، ج٦ ص٣٠٢، سعيد
في الدر المختار: (والمعتبر) (الذبح عقب التسمية قبل تبدل المجلس) حتى لو أضجع شاتين إحداهما فوق الأخرى فذبحهما ذبحة واحدة بتسمية واحدة حلا، بخلاف ما لو ذبحهما على التعاقب لأن الفعل يتعدد فتتعدد التسمية ذكره الزيلعي في الصيد، ولو سمى الذابح ثم اشتغل بأكل أو شرب ثم ذبح، إن طال وقطع الفور حرم وإلا لا، وحد الطول ما يستكثره الناظر

وفي الشامية: (قوله قبل تبدل المجلس) أي حقيقة أو حكما كالفاصل الطويل كما يأتي فافهم: قال الزيلعي: حتى إذا سمى واشتغل بعمل آخر من كلام قليل أو شرب ماء أو أكل لقمة أو تحديد شفرة ثم ذبح يحل، وإن كان كثيرا لا يحل لأن إيقاع الذبح متصلا بالتسمية بحيث لا يتخلل بينهما شيء لا يمكن إلا بحرج عظيم فأقيم المجلس مقام الاتصال، والعمل القليل لا يقطعه والكثير يقطع اهـ (قوله لأن الفعل يتعدد) فيتبدل به المجلس حكما

بدائع الصنائع، كتاب الذبائح ولصيود، ج٥ ص٤٨، سعيد
(أما) وقت التسمية فوقتها في الذكاة الاختيارية وقت الذبح لا يجوز تقديمها عليه إلا بزمان قليل لا يمكن التحرز عنه لقوله تبارك وتعالى {ولا تأكلوا مما لم يذكر اسم الله عليه} [الأنعام: ١٢١] والذبح مضمر فيه معناه ولا تأكلوا مما لم يذكر اسم الله تعالى عليه من الذبائح ولا يتحقق ذكر اسم الله تعالى على الذبيحة إلا وقت الذبح وكذا قيل في تأويل الآيتين الأخريين: إن الذبح مضمر فيهما أي: فكلوا مما ذبح بذكر اسم الله عليه وما لكم ألا تأكلوا مما ذبح بذكر اسم الله تعالى عليه فكان وقت التسمية الاختيارية وقت الذبح.

[5]

مر في المرجع #2