Is it permissable to ask a muslimowner of a restuarant if his meat is halal. Also is it required for a muslim to check every item (in items that one assumes are made from halal items eg. butter, bread, biscuits etc) Does a perusal of these items need to made to verify wether it is halal. Or should one only check once you have heard that there may be a haram element in it.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

In such matters, what should be taken into account is the people of the country where there is such food. If most of the people of that country slaughter according to Islamic rites, and they are among those whose slaughtered animals are lawful for us to eat, like the Muslims and the People of the Book, then it becomes permissible to eat their meat (the meat of animals slaughtered by them), their butter and cheese and so forth without checking it or asking about it. Nevertheless, if the matter is otherwise, in general, then it is an obligation to make sure that their meat is lawful.

Ibn Qudaamah said: “In principle, all things are permissible and this principle cannot be overruled by doubt. Besides, it is reported that the Companions of the Prophet who came to Iraq with Khaalid (Ibn Al-Waleed ), they defeated an army of Persians after the latter had put their food on the tables to eat. When the Muslims had overcome them, they sat and ate that food and it appears that it was meat. If it was ruled that what was slaughtered in their country was impure, they would not have eaten anything from their meat. Since, they ruled that their meat was lawful, then it is more appropriate that their cheese is lawful. Based on this, if one enters a land where there are Magi or people of the book, one could eat their cheese and their meat based on the act of the Prophet and his Companions .”

Moreover, Al-Mardaawi said: “It is permissible to eat the meat that is found in a place where the slaughtered animals of most of its people is lawful to eat, even if we do not know whether or not the slaughterer has mentioned Allaah when slaughtering.”

Likewise, the same ruling applies to the products that may contain some impure ingredients, like pork pieces and so forth, it is an obligation to make sure that they do not contain any and it is an obligation to peruse its ingredients if most of the people in that country do not care whether or not they contain impure ingredients, otherwise it is not an obligation to make sure that it is lawful to eat.

Allaah Knows best.