Why Malaysian Islamic council did not certified halal those turkeys which are certified halal by American Islamic council

Here’s the explanation I got from the frozen food supplier and thought it may be informative to those who are curious.

The supplier said that a huge container load of turkeys were stranded in Johor Bahru recently. The reason was because the method of slaughtering the turkeys. In the USA and European countries, the birds were given some electrical current to temporarily stunned/sedate them. Then, only they will be slaughtered by Muslims whom had said a little prayer. This was done as a form of shielding the animals from the trauma, an act of humanity. However, this method is not acceptable by Malaysian Islamic authority who is in charge of issuing the halal certificate. The birds must be slaughtered while fully alert, i.e. a single sharp cut right through their neck.

It involves severing the major arteries in the neck of the animal, as well as the esophagus and trachea with one swipe of a nonserrated blade.

You can read more about the explanation on Wikipedia on Dhabiĥa Halal. I am not sure if the information provided is accurate or not, though.

Posted by lilian on December 17th, 2006 under General

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8 Responses to “Why Malaysian Islamic council did not certified halal those turkeys which are certified halal by American Islamic council”

  1. QuaVadis Says:
    December 17th, 2006 at 3:02 pm

    The explanation you give is quite correct on the matter of proper way of a “halal” animal being slaughtered, as for Norbest, as I mentioned earlier, I do not know if they are certified Halal or not for if it is ti follow strictly according to the correct procedure the animals should not be stunned so as that they would not be traumatised by the shock of the slaugther for if indeed that if this is the procedure taken by Norbest then it is not “halal” at all as its contrary to the law that is made by MAN and not GOD

  2. Jian Says:
    December 18th, 2006 at 1:02 am

    geez…I live in Msia and I like to stay here (tho I complain alot) but sometimes, I am just frustrated over some things…

  3. terence Says:
    December 18th, 2006 at 9:30 am

    How you kill the animal also die what. Was the knife used to slaughter the animal made the halal way? ………….

  4. maR Says:
    December 19th, 2006 at 5:37 pm

    Halal is not determined because of using a knife.
    It is determined by the way it is done. If Muslim could eat any food slaughtered by non muslims, then why would halal certificate needed, then?
    And oh, Jewish people slaughter animal (here of course I am referring to any mammals that Jewish and Muslim people could consume) the same way. Again, halal is not determined just because a knife is used.

  5. terence Says:
    December 20th, 2006 at 10:35 am

    I was saying what if the knife they used was made by a non muslim?? Maybe after he had Bak Kut Teh for lunch?? Or the turkey was reared by non muslim and so on. Anyway, dont bother to answer, I dont want to know. Thank you.

    Lilian, delete if you find this offensive.

  6. maR Says:
    December 20th, 2006 at 3:33 pm

    If you bother checking, knives used for halal slaughtering should not be used for slaughtering anything else. Just to clear that up.
    Though you couldn’t care less about that, I hope others (who care and respect other people and their religion) would find that helpful.
    Thank you. Full stop.

  7. Hormat Says:
    March 26th, 2007 at 5:13 pm

    Knives can be made by non Muslim. It is only when used that becomes an issue here. A knife used to slaughter animals must be clean. Free from pork slaughtering for eg. Slaughtering has to be performed by Muslims. So there’s no issue …being slaughtered by non Muslim. I hope those who comment have some respect for others in religion and culture issues. My mom always says, “If you have nothing worthwhile to say, SHUT UP”.

  8. Ghurfi Says:
    March 29th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Just to clarify some things for new readers of this article -

    a) The reason an animal must be alert before slaughtering is to ensure that the blood is drained out to the maximum.

    b) The Islamic way of slaughtering has been scientifically proven to be much less painful than the Western way of slaughtering after stunning. Therefore, while it does not look like it, the method of slaughter according to Islam is more humane.

    c) The knife used to slaughter does not have to be made by Muslims nor should the animals been reared by Muslims. Even a knife, used just minutes before to cut up pork, can be used to slaughter an animal as long as the knife is ritually washed beforehand.

    d ) I find it odd that ‘terence’ posed his questions but yet not interested to know the answers.

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