ASalaam wa Alaikum wtb.

Ramadan Mubarak to all of you may Allah accept our fasting and zakat InshAllah.

In response to all your replies I would like to provide you all with expert insight and clarification to Halal meat from the U.S.A. and the fatwa's issued relating to the Ahla Kitab or (People of the Book).

I represent the most experienced and knowledgable Halal serivces provider in the United States and North America and have been in the Halal food business for over 20 years. (Hopefully this gives some credibility to my upcoming statements & clarification)

With all do respect to the scholars who know far more about Islam than I do they are not necessarily qualified to issue a fatwa on these matters because of their lack of knowledge in the food and processig industry and heres why.

Al-Quran says we are forbiden from eating dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and any name other than Allah has been invoked.

Although there are many Halal certifiers in the U.S. and North America there are only a couple with credible international recognition for performing authentic Halal slaughter under U.S.D.A. supervision. I have literally heard govt. officials from arab/ Muslim countries who will remain nameless say; "We know XYZ organization is not producing true Halal, but we have Millions of people to feed, what do you want us to do? As long as XYZ is providing a Halal certificate declaring it Halal then the ownness is upon him as it is his responsibility."

Furthermore in the U.S.A. Ahla Kitab is not valid as the only ones performing dhabih (slaughter) under U.S.D.A. supervision is our organization and a few of the Kosher groups and that is all! I have attempted to verify the slaughter by other Halal groups but they refuse to let me wittness their procedure. I'm sure there is authentic Halal being performed in the U.S.A. but I have not been able to verify anyone elses other than ours and a few of the kosher groups; however the Kosher groups method of slaughter are not always consistant with Halal.

If cattle is not slaughtered by our oprganization or kosher it is killed via captive bolt; Captive bolt is like a gun that shoots a 4-6 inch steel rod into the skull of the animal, they then hoist it into the air and allow it to die via brain hemmorage (as a result this is considered dead meat). Then the animal has it's hide split lengthwise down the animal as the personnel proceed to cut either the thorasic artery or aorta and let the blood drain via gravity. Ask any scholar is this Halal? I will challenge anyone that says it is as this would also be classified as blugeoning.

If you are in the desert, starving and the only thing to eat is swine, as Muslims we can eat it but only to sustain our hunger and not to gorge upon it. This provision from Allah does not mean that it is Halal but rather permissible likewise Ahla Kitab is not Halal but permissable when Halal is not available.

Why is captive bolt killing the preferred method of Beef production by companies such as Tyson's, Excell, National, Swift etc. just to name a few? Because of eonomics. These plants process 2500-3500 head of cattle each day or per production shift. What is especially significant about this number is that if a cow is killed via captive bolt vs. Halal or kosher slaughter it leaves a minimum of 1 gallon of blood in the animal.

Lets do a little math; If a gallon of blood weighs 10 lbs and your company kills 3,000 head per day, 5 times per week and 52 weeks per year (10 x 3,000 x 5 x 52) it equates to 7,800,000 lbs of blood left inside the meat over the course of 1 year. Now if these companies are getting an average of $3.00 per lb for their beef factoring tenderloin, ribeye, chucks, sirloin, trimmings etc.; the beef companies collect $23,400,000.oo for blood that you as the consumer pay for. This blood is our other prohibition from Allah, and I'm more than sure that the Ulema, Mufti, Sheiks & Imams around the world have no idea about what I've just explained.

Please understand that I do not wish to hurt or insult anyone but rather to enlighten and educate you as it is our Islamic obligation to change that which is wrong or injust.

If any of you would like further insight or clarification please feel free to email me or reply to this post.

Jazak Allahu Khairun!