Some say halal food is no different than Kosher, but someone strongly disagrees and has investigated the subject of ritual slaughter in depth. I greatly admire his resolve, strong stomach and nerve in researching this harrowing subject...here is his view:
“No, it’s not like kosher food. Kosher-eating people are not preaching for the destruction of democracy. Halal is sharia. And we need to ban any sharia-related thing in our society,” he said.
That quote from this article:
Muslim Brotherhood nets halal tax revenues
http://moneyjihad.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/muslim-brotherhood-nets-halal-tax-revenues/
There
are several reasons why halal slaughter is not able to be called
'kosher' Francis... because there are many production differences
between halal & kosher:
1.
HALAL includes a Ritual involving dedicating the livestock or poultry
to ALLAH (incidentally...move letters around and you get HALAL), whereas
Shechita does not involve a dedication to G-d - Kosher is not a Ritual,
but it follows a religious procedure.
2.
Halal requires control by Islam –killing floors are turned to Mecca.
The halal ritual requires the animal to face Mecca... there are no
similar requirements for kosher slaughter.
3.
Kosher is not thought to be 'Holy' meat; it is slaughtered according to
religious requirements by a Jew, for Jews, but they do not think that
kosher meat has any 'magical' powers. Conversely, halal is considered a
'holy meat' and far superior to all other meat. Ideally muslims' aim
that everyone should eat halal, regardless of their religion.
4.
Halal Ritual Slaughter ideally involves NO stunning Prior to killing
and problems ensuring a ‘reversible’ stunning in others. The term halal
is ambiguous - different halal certification authorities have their own
criteria for the interpretation of Sharia Law regarding halal. Only one
Halal Certification Authority in UK allows any sort of stun (HFA) and
that is not a proper stun - it is Ultra-Low Amperage Sunning to merely
immobilise the livestock - which remain fully conscious throughout the
ritual slaughter, so the animals are unable to move or vocalise their
pain - which is arguably more cruel than no stun at all. The HFA say:
QUOTE: Electric stun can be controlled like a dimmer switch on the wall for the immobilisation of the birds and the animals.
http://www.halalfoodauthority.co.uk/seminars-halalglobal.html
5.
Dr.Temple Grandin, a designer of livestock handling facilities and a
Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, has also
condemned Halal Slaughter techniques (She is not Jewish).
Grandin's scientific studies revealed many differences in halal & kosher meat production.
6.
Grandin condemned the lack of proper training & skill of muslim
slaughtermen who often learned on the job without adequate preliminary
instruction. Grandin said that Muslim Slaughterers do not get sufficient
training, and compares this to Jewish Slaughtermen, who are trained
over a longer period of time and in more depth before performing
Shechita.
7.
Dr.Temple Grandin proved last year that HALAL causes pain, because it
uses a shorter knife. Kosher knives are longer and less likely to open
the cut (which would cause excruciating pain) - Quote from Grandin's
Scientific Papers:
"The
knife used in this experiment was much shorter than the special long
knives that are used in Kosher slaughter. The use of a shorter knife, as
used in Halal, may possibly have had an effect on the painfulness of
the cut."
8. Grandin also criticised the regulations for dhabiha knives... QUOTE:
'Another
factor that may have had an effect on pain was the use of a grinding
wheel to sharpen the knife instead of a whet stone.'
Grandin
found the halal procedure to be very noisy due to the grinding wheel
and muslims were seen to be sharpening their knives after each sacrifice
within hearing distance of the next animal.
9.
A post stun is allowed immediately after the throat cut for kosher (and
in the norm for Shechita slaughter in UK, Canada etc.), but post stun
is not allowed for halal - the animal must be fully conscious throughout
the entire dhabiha ritual slaughter - or the meat becomes haram.
10.
Jews are not aiming for kosher to go mainstream, kosher is destined to
be eaten by Jews only... whereas Muslims have publicly declared that
halal is going mainstream in Britain, then Europe, then worldwide - they
want everyone to eat halal.
11.
The most recent public statistics in UK are from 2003/4 show that
Shechita accounts for only 225,000 of the almost 750 million animals
slaughtered each year for food in the UK (0.03 per cent).
Whereas
there is a vast over-production of halal meat now - halal is flooding
our food chain and the Islamic aim is to make halal even more available,
with a focus on Export as well..
12.
Most muslims would accept kosher meat as being an acceptable
alternative to halal, but Jews do not accept halal as an alternative to
kosher.
13.
There is a vast difference in the philosophy behind the purpose of
kosher and halal slaughter - in fact the two are poles apart and this
highlights the fact that could never agree. Kosher is an 'end in itself'
as it's purpose involves serving the Jewish Community only; whereas
Halal is a 'means to an end' ...the first step on the ladder to
instilling Sharia in non-Islamic nations like ours!
14.
The Jews are NOT a Threat... they have lived peacefully beside us for
centuries and have no intentions of taking over our Food Chain!
HALAL is the Target! Unlabelled Halal Products including many Dairy and Confectionery Products are now flooding our Food Chain.
Whenever
the Muslims are challenged regarding the over-production of halal, they
try to distract us by playing the Kosher Card and try to get the
argument on religious slaughter - that does not work here...
Our TARGET IS HALAL... not Kosher.
BOYCOTT HALAL PRODUCTS & HALAL CERTIFIED COMPANIES.
15. IMPORTANT: If there is no halal available then a Muslim is allowed to eat non-halal food.
SOURCE: World faiths: Teach yourself - Islam by Ruqaiyyah Maqsood.
ISBN 0-340-60901-X. Page 204
Surah 2:173 states:
If one is forced because there is no other choice, neither craving nor transgressing, there is no sin in him.
So
it seems that when muslims are in non-Islamic countries it's OK for
them to eat non-halal food... the only requirement according to Sharia
Law is to pray before when consuming non-halal foods. There is
absolutely no need for halal meat in Non-Islamic countries like ours.
What do British farmers think about this subject?