Eating Food in England
Fatwa No: 81234

Question

Is it allowed to eat food in England?

Answer

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

If this disbeliever is from the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), you can eat from the meat of the animal he has slaughtered. Slaughtering here means cutting the jugular vein and the pharynx. But if you know that the animal was killed by electrical shock, or strangling, or any other illegal way of slaughtering, you should not eat from it.

As for his other meals, you can eat them, except if they contain any food or drink that is forbidden by the Sharee'ah such as pork, dogs, wine, etc. Actually, it is forbidden for you to sit at a table where alcohol is served. Allah Says (what means): {This day [all] good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them.} [Quran 5:5]

But if the disbeliever is not from the people of the Book, it is forbidden for you to eat from the meat of an animal slaughtered by him, as it is a dead meat (i.e. animal not slaughtered according to Islamic way). Allah Says (what means): {Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns…} [Quran 5:3]

You are, however, allowed to eat from his other meals if they don't contain any forbidden thing. Finally, the Muslim should take care when undertaking anything in order to protect his self as well as his religion. So, he should make sure that everything he does is lawful.

For more benefit on meat of animals slaughtered by the People of the Book, please refer to Fataawa 82323, 82065, 81234, 393961, 330952, 82899 and 84072.

Allah knows best.

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