Title: Machine-Cut Halal?

Question: I live in the United States and I have the following questions: (1) Is machine cut meat halal? We have many stores run by Muslims here in US that say the animal has been slaughtered in a machine whilst playing “Bismillahi Allahu Akbar" so is that meat halal for us? If not, then even in Saudi Arabia all meat is machine cut so is that halal or not? Shall we not consume meat while on Hajj an Umrah in that case? (2) Almost every food in US has artificial flavors that are derived from alcohol and according to the company the alcohol evaporates during the drying process so can we consume food in which alcohol dried off? (3) Few friends of mine argue that alcohol is haram only when consumed in quantities that cause intoxication so we can have food that may have traces of it. Is this correct?

Answer ID: 59797Posted on: Sep 1, 2020

Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Rahim !

(Fatwa: 1103/1083/L=09/1436) (1) It is mandatory to read tasmia (Bismillah Allahu Akbar) on each animal for the validity of slaughtering. And the person who is slaughtering the animal must read the tasmia. It is not lawful to slaughter the animals by machine while playing the tape-recorder with the recitation of Bismillah Allahu Akbar. It is not lawful to consume such machine slaughtered animals. On the occasion of Hajj and Umrah in case of suspicions one should avoid the meats. (2) If the alcohol is not prepared from the four haram beverages (ripe or unripe wines of grapes and wines of dates and raisin) as alcohol of other ingredients is usually available then it is allowable to use such flavour. (3) A heavy quantity of wine which is intoxicative its little quantity is also unlawful. However, if the wine is prepared from other than the four haram beverages and it has been changed into some other thing after drying it then it is lawful it in case of prevalent use.