Visit IslamicConcern.com to learn more about cruelty-free alternatives to halal meat. Best Halal restaurants in … God's name must be invoked in a one-line blessing called the Tasmiyah, said before any slaughter. Current debates over ritual slaughter are not about religion, race or culture, but about humanity, science and ethics; and more importantly, about the animals. Ultimately, while there are certainly less-cruel ways to slaughter an animal, there really is no right way. Halal food laws are based on interpretation of the Quran, the Muslim scripture, and set out the range of beverages and foods (including meat) that are acceptable for Muslims to eat. (e.g. The Daily Mail has cited new figures from the Foods Standards Agency which show the number of sheep slaughtered in Britain without being stunned had doubled in six years, to more than three million. “It’s very difficult to have accurate traceability when meat may go through the food chain and pass through several different people’s hands. No, with the single exception of whether or not stunning is used. The ban has been described as both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic, with European Jewish Congress president Moshe Kantor claiming “it attacks the very core of our culture and religious practice and our status as equal citizens with equal rights in a democratic society. However, this accounts for just a fraction of the global halal-certified food and beverage industry, valued at $415bn per year. Both raise the question: Where do personal rights end and causing harm begin? However, it is as yet unclear how regulations surrounding halal meat will be affected once Britain leaves the EU. "But Halal Slaughter Is The Most Humane Way To Slaughter Animals" Some religious scholars say that religions place a lot of rules regarding how to slaughter animals, not because slaughtering animals is a merciful act, but because of the exact opposite. The religious law also says how the animal must be treated during its life, with the animal not allowed to have been mistreated or caused any pain. And just as current conversations regarding freedom of expression and hate speech can get muddy, so too can the topic of ritual animal slaughter. In 2014, the Danish government joined Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland in voting to remove this exemption and ban religious slaughter on the ground that “animal rights come before religion”. The ban is set be extended to Wallonia in southern Belgium from September, meaning the only place where it will be possible to buy halal or kosher meat will be Brussels, which is home to around 500,000 Muslims and 30,000 Jews. The video appears to show a cow hoisted up by a leg, being skinned while possibly still alive, outside a temporary mosque in Milton, Ont. “Halal” refers to any action or behaviour that is permissible in Islam, including what types of meat and methods of preparation are acceptable, while “haram” refers to impermissible or unlawful actions. Despite Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations stating that food animals are not to be subjected to avoidable distress or pain, and must be rendered unconscious via captive bolt to the head, gas or electric shock before being cut (arguably causing less suffering), an exception is made for ritual slaughter. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Unlike halal, the Jewish method of slaughter, known as Shechita, cannot involve pre-slaughter stunning at all. – No, red 40 is a chemical compound that is not made from any animal by-product. A call for a ban is not a condemnation of any group or belief, but an acknowledgment of evolution in thought. i would imagine that however an animal is killed for meat, it'll be painful for it. If you are looking to give feedback on our new site, please send it along to, To view this site properly, enable cookies in your browser. In the Quran, the word halal is contrasted with haram (forbidden). The CFIA allows for a margin of error regarding stunning of 1-to-5 per cent depending on species, meaning a minimum of about 15 million animals per year can be cut and bled while still conscious. Macros1980 wrote:Is halal cruel? I am concerned that the production of Halal meat is a blatant cruelty in the slaughter of animals for food but that this is allowed on spurious cultural/religious reasons. Thank you for your patience. Lord Trees, a former president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, said that with the sharp rise in the number of sheep and poultry being killed in accordance with halal practice it was highly probable that some unstunned meat was entering the “standard” food chain, mainly in pies and ready meals. Halal slaughter in particular has been branded “more cruel” than non-religious European practices. In Canada, we greatly value our freedom of religion and our diversity. If an animal is mistreated or harmed in a cruel and inhumane manner prior to or during the Halal slaughtering process, the animal can not be considered Halal any longer. The sense I got from reading the guidelines for halal slaughter is that animals should only be killed very respectfully in order to allow us to survive. Some animals killed for halal meat in the UK are stunned electrically before their throats are slit, known as “pre-stunned slaughter”. Halal and kosher butchers deny that their method of killing animals is cruel and expressed anger over the FAWC recommendation. Tesco creates 16,000 jobs after online delivery boom, Start your trial to The Week today and your first 6 issues are, Chinese authorities launch anti-halal campaign. “It is impossible to know whether the animal is feeling pain or not,” they say. Animals not killed by ritual slaughter are considered carrion meat, which is haram. Let's join other compassionate nations and ban no-stun animal slaughter. Halal (/ h ə ˈ l ɑː l /; Arabic: حلال ‎, ḥalāl; also spelled halaal) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible or lawful" into English.. Let's do more than just talk about it. We hope to have this fixed soon. Answer #5 | 22/01 2016 23:28 no, at least I don't thin so Positive: 66.666666666667 %. Perhaps surprisingly, according to Al Jazeera eight of the 10 largest suppliers of global halal meat are non-Muslim majority countries, with Brazil, Australia and India leading the way. But why? However, because the number of animals being ineffectively stunned is self reported by slaughterhouses, advocates believe the amount to be much higher. According to one of Britain’s foremost vets, many non-Muslim Britons are inadvertently eating meat from animals slaughtered while they are still conscious. halal, kosher) ... in slaughterhouses and can only attend to investigate if we receive complaints from someone who has witnessed animal cruelty directly. Eid-al-Adha is a major Islamic holiday celebrated worldwide in part by sacrificing an animal using the halal method of slaughter. Its latest report into the halal meat market is Britain also suggests that while Muslims in the UK represent just 3% of the population, they consume around 20% of all the lamb sold as well as a growing percentage of beef, most of which is halal. The Islamic method of killing an animal for meat is called zabiha. For centuries, halal methods were considered a healthy and appropriate way of handling meat which also minimised cruelty. “People will pull out of school meals and people who should eat properly will be deprived of that. However, it is forbidden to use methods of stunning that can actually kill the animal, such as bolt guns. Halal slaughtering involves cutting through the large arteries in the neck with one swipe of a blade, while a Muslim butcher recites a religious verse. Animal health experts and campaigners disagree. But as Canadian animal rights lawyer Anna Pippus explains, "Slaughter without any stunning means the fully conscious animal will have their neck sliced and will experience pain and fear until they lose enough blood to lose consciousness." The Halal slaughter process is somehow ‘cruel’ ... All Halal slaughter of chickens in Australia includes prior stunning. Following an impassioned and at times bitter campaign between council leader Geoff Driver and the local Muslim community, the Conservative-controlled council narrowly voted for the ban. We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate. Jessica Scott-Reid is a Canadian freelance writer and animal advocate. E101: Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) Color For halal slaughter that includes pre-stunning there is no practical difference in the way the animal is treated. A recent video on social media has brought these issues to the surface. Personally I would consider halal and kosher slaughtering to be cruel, and would not myself eat an animal killed in this way. Halal slaughter in particular has been branded "more cruel" than non-religious European practices. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter . Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Mushbooh if used as liquid color, the solvent has to be Halal: E100: Curcumin/Turmeric Color: Halal if pure grind turmeric powder or granular. Its proponents say the use of a chalaf, a surgically sharp instrument twice the width of the animal's neck, by practitioners who have trained for a minimum of seven years, “meets the European Union's requirement for stunning in that it brings insensitivity to pain and distress”, reports The Guardian. But you can find pages like this one from PETA , which argue that halal standards for slaughter are actually more cruel than the usual methods. Evidence has shown that cutting the throat of a conscious animal does cause great, avoidable pain. Animals in the UK and EU have to be stunned before being killed by law but exceptions can be made on religious grounds, including in halal slaughterhouses. In both Muslim and Jewish religious slaughter, the act of slitting the throat "stuns the animal", they add, and “there is no delay between stun and subsequent death”. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, British Veterinarian Association and Federation of Veterinarians of Europe have all publicly opposed the method, along with many advocacy groups, including the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Humane Slaughter Association, and others. Slicing their throat, food tract, and jugular veins is a cruel and violent act by anyone’s standards, and doing it when they can feel and sense every aspect of it, is no less cruel or violent. Slaughtering animals without prior stunning is already banned in Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Norway, and likely soon in Belgium. Read our, I'm a print subscriber, link to my account, Avoid the use of toxic and offensive language. The procedures for Halal slaughter can vary from country to country because of the differing interpretations of the Quran. This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification known as "the five decisions": mandatory, recommended, neutral, reprehensible and forbidden. Earlier this year, a ban involving ritual animal slaughter came into force in parts of Belgium to “significant opposition” reports Metro. Various parts of it will go in all sorts of directions into different food chains and different processing systems, often different countries,” he wrote in the journal Vet Record. “Halal” means permissible in Arabic: ... which supplies the vast majority of animal ingredients for both food and soap/bodycare use is both horrifyingly cruel and unsustainable. "remove":"add"](select.closed),dom.control.setAttribute("aria-expanded",o)}function onToggleClicked(){var l=!isPanelOpen();setPanelState(l)}function onWindowScroll(){window.requestAnimationFrame(function() {var l=isPanelOpen(),n=0===(document.body.scrollTop||document.documentElement.scrollTop);n||l||!allowExpand?n&&l&&(allowExpand=!0,setPanelState(!1)):(allowExpand=!1,setPanelState(!0))});}pencilInit(".js-sub-pencil",!1); // via darwin-bg var slideIndex = 0; carousel(); function carousel() { var i; var x = document.getElementsByClassName("subs_valueprop"); for (i = 0; i < x.length; i++) { x[i].style.display = "none"; } slideIndex++; if (slideIndex> x.length) { slideIndex = 1; } x[slideIndex - 1].style.display = "block"; setTimeout(carousel, 2500); } //, Dedicated to organics, animal welfare and the family farm, ‘Slow’ chickens? They suggest animals are killed in a more cruel manner when compared to other methods. It is certainly less humane than killing the animal by shooting it in the head with a bolt gun, which is the normal method of slaughter - in this case, the animal is dead in less than a second and feels no pain at all. It must also be provided with enough space to roam, clean water, food and fresh air. Haram if hidden ingredient is pork fat based emulsifier in dry mix. If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. This article was published more than 2 years ago. All animals slaughtered under the Shechita (for Kosher) are non-stunned. 351 King Street East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON Canada, M5A 0N1, Just $1.99 per week for the first 24 weeks, var select={root:".js-sub-pencil",control:".js-sub-pencil-control",open:"o-sub-pencil--open",closed:"o-sub-pencil--closed"},dom={},allowExpand=!0;function pencilInit(o){var e=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]&&arguments[1];select.root=o,dom.root=document.querySelector(select.root),dom.root&&(dom.control=document.querySelector(select.control),dom.control.addEventListener("click",onToggleClicked),setPanelState(e),window.addEventListener("scroll",onWindowScroll),dom.root.removeAttribute("hidden"))}function isPanelOpen(){return dom.root.classList.contains(select.open)}function setPanelState(o){dom.root.classList[o?"add":"remove"](select.open),dom.root.classList[o? 2. Animals in the UK and EU have to be stunned before being killed by law but exceptions can be made on religious grounds, including in halal slaughterhouses. Both halal and kosher ways of killing are now illegal in the southern region of Flanders, where animals now have to be electronically stunned before they can be killed. But now, in a society with increasing concern for animal welfare, this no longer makes sense. Section 77 of the Meat Inspection Regulations states that animals slaughtered in accordance with Judaic or Islamic law “shall be restrained and slaughtered by means of a cut resulting in rapid, simultaneous and complete severance of the jugular veins and carotid arteries in a manner that causes the animal to lose consciousness immediately.". Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. In Muslim and Muslim-majority nations, all meat is halal, all food is halal, and an increasing number of non-food items, including personal care products like skin lotion, are being labeled halal; everything to be purchased for human consumption and use is being dedicated to Allah, the moon god, with portions of the revenues funneled to Islamic terrorist groups. The British Veterinary Association calls for all animals to be effectively stunned before slaughter, while the Farm Animal Welfare Council says cutting an animal's throat is “such a massive injury [that it] would result in very significant pain and distress in the period before insensibility supervenes”. But why? Sept 16 2010 ... Halal food regulators say the animals should be healthy and treated well before they are killed. Halal slaughter is not humane – according to the RSPCA – yet virtually all our livestock (bar pork) is now Halal slaughtered. Raising the mater in the House of Lords, Lord Trees called for a change in the law to ensure all animals had to be stunned before they were killed, asking “Does the minister agree with me that in that aspect of animal welfare we are going backwards?”. The animal is typically still conscious when its throat is cut. From all the studies and discussion on Red 40 artificial food dye, we come to know about some problems which can occur in our bodies as side effects, while we do not know about any of its benefits whatsoever. We aim to have all comments reviewed in a timely manner. Those that are mistreating animals should be prosecuted and their practices outlawed. That means: If you do not see your comment posted immediately it is being reviewed by our moderation team and may appear shortly. We call on legislators to step back from the brink of the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights in Belgium since the Nazi occupation of the country in World War Two.”. (Just imagine it was your own throat, or that of a beloved pet.). (e.g. In the context of dietary rules, pork and blood, as well as meat from birds of prey and reptiles, are defined as haram and so forbidden to practising Muslims. Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. Stunning, on the other hand, "stops brain activity so they don't register the pain and suffering associated with being sliced into," she says. The cow appears to move his head, though Halton Regional Police have said they do not believe the animal was alive at the moment, and are not pressing cruelty charges. The UK has such as exemption in place for both halal and kosher killing, meaning that “there are actually more regulations in place governing the handling of animals that will not be stunned when slaughtered”, says the paper. The industry body Eblex has estimated the value of the halal meat industry to be around £2.6bn a year. Of course, animal slaughter without adequate stunning also happens in traditional slaughterhouses across Canada. After reciting the blessing, the slaughterman uses a surgically sharp instrument to cut the animal's throat, windpipe and the blood vessels around its neck. Comments that violate our community guidelines will not be posted. Even if not cruel it is unreasonable appeasement to force halal food (or kosher for that matter) on non muslims (in hospitals, in some schools during Ramadan, in areas where non muslims are a tiny minority, it happened in France and even in UK if I'm not wrong etc). When probed further and asked why then halal meat is so controversial, Muslims volunteer or concede that it is because halal meat comes from animals that were not stunned prior to being slaughtered, a practice that some animal rights activists find cruel to the animals. Copyright © Dennis Publishing Limited 2020. The question of whether religious slaughter is more or less humane than other forms is a matter of debate. Halal is commonly used in relation to meat, food, personal care products, cosmetics and, recently, nail polish. Groups such as the RSPCA believe that the most humane way to slaughter livestock is to use irreversible stunning (which renders the animal dead) before slitting its throat. Orthodox Jews recite similar everyday blessings, including a prayer used before performing kosher slaughter. In Canada, halal slaughter makes up approximately 15 per cent of cattle and 35 per cent of calves processed for consumer sale each year, making it a billion-dollar industry. But today, we also value the humane treatment of animals. For something to be considered halal, it must meet the following criteria: Free from any component that Muslims are prohibited from consuming according to Islamic law (Shariah). In the UK, 58 percent of Halal meat comes from animals which have been stunned before slaughter and certified Halal. The video is graphic and hard to watch. Suggesting a constitutionally protected freedom be outlawed in Canada is tricky; we take our human rights very seriously. Reciting a short blessing beginning with “bismillah” (in the name of Allah) is a prerequisite for Muslims before embarking on any significant task. The British Halal Food Authority approves of low-voltage electrified water baths to stun poultry and electric tong stunning for sheep and goats. Thus the question becomes: Does a human being's right to eat food prepared in a way to abide by religious rule actually trump an animal's right to be killed without avoidable pain and excessive suffering? And that’s where conversations about ritual animal slaughter get difficult. But is halal meat cruel, nope. Supporters of no-stun ritual slaughter typically believe that a swift cut with an especially sharp knife causes minimal pain, and may in fact cause less suffering than stunning. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. The animal is already dead and make no difference whether it is halal or non halal Positive: 66.666666666667 %. Our knowledge of animal sentience has grown, along with our compassion for their suffering. In a highly publicised case last year, Lancashire council became the first local authority to ban unstunned halal meat in school dinners. The stunning process doesn’t kill the birds; it is a process used to render the chickens instantaneously unconscious and insensible to pain prior to them being killed. For us it’s a matter of faith. Is Halal cruel and should it be banned? The RSPCA argues that killing animals without stunning them causes “unnecessary suffering”, while activist group Peta calls halal slaughter “prolonged torment”, saying the animals “fight and gasp for their last breath, struggling to stand while the blood drains from their necks”. Shuja Shafi and Jonathan Arkush, writing in The Guardian, say religious slaughter is as humane as the alternatives, arguing that traditional methods of stunning, using a captive bolt, gas or electricity, only paralyse the animal so it cannot move. In Canada, halal slaughter makes up approximately 15 per cent of cattle and 35 per cent of calves processed for consumer sale each year, making it a billion-dollar industry. Click here to subscribe. halal, kosher) Does the BC SPCA condone ritual slaughter? Mistakes are commonplace in a system that kills thousands of animals each day on an assembly line. Lancashire Council of Mosques (LCM) accused Driver of leading a “crusade” on the issue and LCM’s acting chair, Abdul Qureshi, said any decision to ban unstunned halal meat would create huge difficulty. Majid Katme of the Muslim Council of Britain also disagreed, stating that "it's a sudden and quick hemorrhage. Is Red 40 Halal? Why an animal-welfare solution is more complicated than some expected, Canada earns top marks on farm-animal welfare, disease control, global report card says, Due to technical reasons, we have temporarily removed commenting from our articles. Not so fast. British Halal Food Authority slaughtermen use the most common version, “Bismillahi-Allahu Akbar” (In the name of Allah the greatest). The antonym to halal is haram, which means unlawful or forbidden. According to The Independent, existing European law requires animals to be stunned before they are slaughtered, but grants exemptions on religious grounds. But over time, many rights and freedoms have evolved and changed, often following touchy talks and ethical debates. Secret filming at a halal abattoir in Yorkshire exposes terrible mistreatment. To do that to an animal that is fully conscious is unspeakably cruel. They regard the process as cruel, as animals may not lose consciousness immediately and have called for these methods to be banned. In the video, one man is reportedly heard saying: “Take a look, a cow is being butchered the halal way on Eid-al-Adha as a sacrifice,” in Urdu, the official language of Pakistan. For a very long time, the answer has been yes. Halal meat is an essential part of the Muslim faith and advocates argue that the practices of traditional Islamic slaughter are humane. The blood is then allowed to drain from the body. Conclusion. Today, allowing any animal to endure avoidable pain, in the name of religion or for any other reason, is no longer acceptable. However, many animal rights campaigners argue that religious slaughter causes animals unnecessary suffering and should be banned. Some information in it may no longer be current. DEFINITION OF HALAL The word ‘halal’ literally means permissible- and in translation it is usually used as lawful. Denmark's minister of agriculture and food, Dan Jorgensen, famously said, "Animal rights come before religion," leading some groups to deem the ban anti-Semitic, and interfering in religious freedom.