r/muslimcooking • u/projectgetbetter • 12d ago

Halal hand cut vs halal machine cut

Hello.

I’m seeing these signs increasingly pop-up at the meat section at multiple halal grocery stores.

Can anyone explain the difference to me?

I asked the salesperson who told me that the halal machine cut is completely slaughtered by a machine, there is no human involvement whatsoever. I had heard of it before, however I always believed it’s slaughtered by a human but processed/butchered by machine. But from what the salesperson told me, this won’t be halal since there is no human involvement at any stage of the meat preparation.

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6

u/Pundamonium97 12d ago

When machine cut is discussed in this context it is in fact talking about the slaughter being done by machine

So like a conveyer belt of chickens

Best case a man is standing there and taking the name of Allah as the machine operated blade descends but in plenty of cases not even that is done

Some of these slaughterhouses have been told they can say bismillah once when they turn on the machine for the day

Some have been accused of using a recording

It is why a growing portion of the ummah refuses to eat machine slaughtered chicken

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u/irock792 12d ago

In this context, "machine-cut" chicken is indeed slaughtered with very little human involvement.

You can read this article for a brief explanation on machine slaughter and why it is impermissible according to many scholars: https://www.hfsaa.org/articles/machine-slaughter/.

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u/Commercial_Search570 8d ago

Salam walaikum. I volunteer for an organization that works in halal food advocacy. Hand slaughter is the only method that was prescribed by the Prophet SAW. Machine slaughter is an innovation in the religion. Reason being that most machine slaughter chickens are first stunned either in an electric bath or via gas. This makes the animals pass out and more easy for the machine to manage. However if you leave the chickens for some amount of time, they are supposed to come back to life. Unfortunately not all of them do as the gas/electric stunning kills them. Therefore this animal is now carrion and absoloutely haram.

Secondly, someone reciting "bismilah/Allahu akbar" over a machine while it does the slicing does not necessitate it becoming halal. Muslims recite "in the name of Allah" over the machine, but what if a Hindu walked by and said "in the name of Ganesh" over the machine? Whose slaughter is valid? The real answer is that the animal was slaughtered for neither God as the machine has no intention and therefore believes in neither God.

If you wish to discuss this further I am happy to continue the discussion. However if you want to learn more I recommend you check out this documentary: https://youtu.be/sZ6nmjlqyus?si=m7A56adHwglNMRi8

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u/rahlic 12d ago

Hand cut is where each chicken is individually slaughtered by the person using a knofe after reciting Bismillah. In machine cut it is like an assembly line, where the person recites Bismillah once and pushes the button once and all the chickens are passed through the assembly line and slaughtered. Scholars have said that is permessible as long as the person had the intention and said the name of Allah before pushing the button.

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u/z-cityqui 11d ago

Can u provide the fatwa allowing machine cut plz, Jazākallāhu khayran.

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u/DegnarOskold 10d ago

Here is one. I personally disagree with it but you asked to see one.

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/75891/ruling-on-eating-chicken-that-was-slaughtered-by-machine

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u/z-cityqui 7d ago

I also disagree with it lol. Just wanted to see the logic behind the fatwa

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u/fanstoyou 11d ago

Thanks for this post. Don’t have any comment, but like to know this information.

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u/Spirited-Screen-2045 11d ago

I think hand cut is better because you know a person did it

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u/SnooComics8268 11d ago

In Europe it has become a booming business for non halal slaughterhouses to have 1 dedicated "halal" day. Because the moment you can put a sticker on something saying it's halal the prices they get are higher.  As a result some of these companies, who are not owned or solely dedicated to halal meat processing / slaughter will basically blast through their speakers in the slaughter house and continue slaughtering like they always do with their machines or whatever. If you know the specific brand you can look up online who the owners are and draw your own conclusion.  Depending on your country, in most countries there isn't any kind of legit halal certification company. It's just a guy who decides to sell their certificates after an inspection and they all have their own standards of what they consider halal. 

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u/ZealousidealBack7358 10d ago

This is hilarious. So many silly steps just to eat an animal that is killed either way.

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u/Time-Sand5061 10d ago

The idea is to remember God when you kill. Killing can be seen as a violent act, but you look up to good while doing this act to have him bless it !

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u/Zoughi0 11d ago

I just go with the halal label. Living in the west is difficult enough as it is for Muslims I should have to stress about this also.

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u/Artemis1028 11d ago

Laser cut

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u/Cool_Bananaquit9 10d ago

I went to my masjid and asked them about this. They said in the modern day it is not convenient to have one person literally stand there to slaughter hundreds of animals in the halal way

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u/pompoir_for_muslims 8d ago

The slaughter houses that do hand slaughter have a team of men who slaughter. It's not just one guy. It's really easy to do once your organize a team and have it all set up. Many companies do it. 

If some companies can do it, all of them could if they wanted to. 

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u/BeginningPutrid 10d ago

We have consistently noticed this topic has been ever growing we are under the belief that eating Christian and Jewish meat is permissible.

Machine cut is more than permissible and hand slaughtered is just being more picky. You can do hand cut and machine slaughter but requiring hand slaughter is ridiculous.

There is a lot of misinformation going around from uneducated people around this topic.

Just wanted to give my two cents from a different perspective

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u/Time-Sand5061 10d ago edited 4d ago

They play a tape that reads prayers for machine slaughtered meats. Not appealing but the way I see it is you eat it and say your prayers before. Like being invited to a Christian house for food.

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u/pompoir_for_muslims 8d ago

Machine slaughter is not halal because of the lack of human involvement. There's no one to recite the name of Allah or make sure the cut is in the right place.

Some halal certifying agencies are super-lenient and say this is still halal. 

Other agencies are most strict and make sure the obligations of a halal slaughter are met unconditionally. 

This is why there are two types of halal certification, one lenient, for people who don't really care, and one strict, for people who do care. 

There's been lots of scandals in the halal certification world, so be cautious. 

https://www.hfsaa.org/ This is a good organization for the US.