Q. I live in the US, and I would like to ask whether it is permissible to eat biscuits, cookies, etc., which contain fat, if we are not sure that the animal from which it was taken was slaughtered in the Islamic way?
M. Farooqi
A. God says in the Qur’an: “The food of the people of earlier revelations is lawful for you.” (5: 5) Explaining this ruling, Imam Malik maintains that what such people, i.e. the Christians and the Jews, consider lawful in their religion is lawful for us to eat, unless it is specifically forbidden in our faith. This means that pork, which Christians eat, remains unlawful to us because its prohibition is clearly stated in the Qur’an. On the other hand, their sheep, cows, etc. are lawful to us, however slaughtered, because God has given this concession.
Having said that, I realize that some scholars take a very restrictive view on the matter. They insist that the animals in question should be slaughtered in the same way as Muslims slaughter their animals. This leads to hardship, particularly for Muslims living in small towns and villages in Europe or America where it may not be easy to obtain meat slaughtered in the Islamic way. But strictness is alien to Islam, which always makes things easy. Imam Malik’s view is more in line with this approach. Besides, if the same conditions apply to the method of slaughter by Christians and Jews as they apply to Muslims, then the whole statement in the verse quoted above becomes superfluous. Far be it from God to include in His book a superfluous statement.
What the statement provides is a concession, which means the relaxation of restrictions, not imposing new ones. Therefore, eating such biscuits, cookies and meat is permissible. Besides, when God gives us a concession, we will be well advised to use it, because He loves that His servants use His concessions.
