Over recent years there has been a lot of controversy surrounding whether stunning an animal before slaughter makes it haram.
Animal welfare groups have also opposed the practice whereby some traditional Islamic slaughterhouses choose not to stun the animals before cutting their throats. This has led to organic food control bodies from disallowing the term organic from being applied to meat coming from animals that weren’t stunned, despite the fact that the animals had been reared on organic farms and subsisted on organic diets in the same way as other organic farms that do use stunning before slaughter.
The intention of the control bodies is of course positive. They simply want to impose the highest standards of welfare for the animals at all times, however, the differences in slaughter processes have little, if any bearing on whether the meat is actually organic. This is determined entirely by the animal’s living standard and diet.
In short, the organic control bodies are using organic status as a mechanism to virtue signal beyond the scope of organic’s ordinary meaning. Halal Origin sources its products from farmers that do and does not stun the animals before slaughter.
The aim of this article is to expand your awareness so you can understand the differences between the labels ‘organic’ and ‘organically reared’, so you can buy and eat your favourite meat ingredients with confidence.
Also, we aim to educate the Islamic community on the Quran’s perspective and address the misconceptions surrounding the perceived conflict between stunning animals and halal meat. This way we can further improve the welfare standards for the animals that we eat without compromising our beliefs or the confidence of the Islamic community as to whether we are ensuring compliance with God.
What is organic?
Organic is a legally defined term relating to the production of farming products, including fruit, vegetable, nuts & seeds, and of course, meat.
To qualify as organic, a control body must certify that a farmer’s produce:
- Is free of routine drugs, growth promoters, animal offal, or any other additives fed to animals. This does not include treatment for animals that naturally become sick.
- That 95% of the animal’s feed is grown in line with organic standards.
- No use of artificial pesticides or fertilisers is permitted on crops, grass or animal feed.
- No use of genetically modified organisms is permitted.
- The farms operate to ensure the highest standard of animal welfare.
- There is a register of documents available for inspection that provides a complete trail of processes followed relating to the above, starting at the farmer’s gate and finishing on the diner’s plate.
Ultimately, it is point number 5 that causes contention between some Halal farmers and the organic control bodies.
What is organically reared?
Organically reared is simply when all of the above criteria are met, but the animals are not stunned before slaughter. That’s it. For all intended purposes, the animals are otherwise organic.
This means that you do not have to be concerned about the quality of your meat or what the animals were being fed during their natural lives.
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Must read: Organic vs non-organic
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Are stunned animals halal?
There has been a lot of concern from the Muslim community surrounding this topic. That’s because followers of the Islamic faith wish to remain compliant with God and are fearful that eating meat from animals that have been stunned may, in the eyes of god, be haram, but actually, it isn’t.
The concerns arise out of a misunderstanding about the processes of stunning and their effects on the animal, particularly with its blood. It is important to understand that this issue couldn’t be addressed by the Quran directly because the method of stunning was not practised during the period in which it was written. However, if we turn to religious doctrine, we can see that no conflicts exist if certain criteria are met.
The Quaran says:
“Forbidden to you are dead meat (mayta), blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been eaten by a wild animal; unless you are able to slaughter it…”
The text above makes clear that if the animal is slaughtered in gods name, through methods not prohibited, then the meat is halal. That is to say, so long as the animal is still alive after being stunned, and then slaughtered, stunning is an acceptable practice.
The consciousness of the animal at the point of slaughter is not a relevant factor regarding whether the meat is halal; the only relevant factor is whether it is (mayta) dead.
How stunning works
The method to stun an animal prior to slaughter varies depending on the animal and its size, etc.
The most common methods to stun an animal in the UK include:
There are two ways to apply the electric shock method. One is direct to the head, which renders the animal reversibly unconscious. That means, if left for enough time, it will regain consciousness. The other is to the head and back, which irreversibly places the animal in a state of unconsciousness and also causes cardiac arrest. If left for more than 19 seconds, the animal will die in this state, but the animals are normally slaughtered immediately after being stunned.
The captive bolt method relies on a blank cartridge being fired from a gun that extends a bolt against the head of the cattle. Depending on the type used, it will either send a shock wave into the brain of the animal or just the skull. Both are sufficient to render the cattle unconscious, but still alive.
To address any concerns surrounding the effect stunning has on draining the blood of the animals, controlled tests were performed. It is important to understand that in either case, it is impossible to drain all the blood because the muscles and smaller capillaries will always retain a quantity of blood.
Having said that, the tests found that there was no meaningful difference between the amount or rate at which blood was drained between stunned animals and animals not stunned, which should further give confidence to Muslims that animals that have been stunned are still halal.
Final thoughts
The prophet Mohammed (may peace be upon him) is cited as having instructed his followers to show kindness towards animals even during slaughter. Islamic scholars have identified that a particular Hadith narrates, “God Almighty has ordained kindness in everything. And when you slaughter, do it in the best manner by first sharpening the knife and putting the animal at ease (Sahih Muslim Book 34, Hadith 84).
In fact, it is reported that Mohammed (may peace be upon him) said to one man that he witness lying down a lamb before sharpening his knife, “do you intend to make it die two deaths? Why did you not sharpen your knife before laying it down?” (Ibn Majah).
That being the case, stunning an animal is considered humane and not inconsistent with the requirements of halal under the Islamic faith. Most farmers that produce halal meat do indeed stun the animals before slaughter.
In most western countries, including the UK, it is illegal to not stun the animal prior to slaughter. In the UK, however, exemptions are provided for religious grounds, but this stands to change very soon. In Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland there are no exceptions to the rule – all animals must be stunned.
We hope that we have cleared up the misconceptions about the impact of stunning animals and halal meat. Now, you can buy your meat with peace of mind, knowing that you are being true to God, and you don’t have to worry when you see labels like ‘organically reared’.
Halal Origins take your commitment to God very seriously. We pride ourselves on being the choice online butcher for those that want high-quality organic meat that is of course halal. Whether you want chicken pieces, a glorious steak, or your favourite Saturday sausages – we have you covered.
Check out our store today and we will be blessed to serve you.
