Is Kosher Meat Halal? Not Really
by Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed

There are several issues with Kosher:

1. In Judaism, the rules and methods of slaughtering are not open and published. Unlike in Islam, where any adult sane Muslim can slaughter an animal by following the rules prescribed by Shariah, in Judaism only one kind of Rabbi, known as the Sachet, may slaughter Kosher animals. The Sachet is specially trained for this purpose and no other Jew can slaughter an animal.

   Although Jews say that they slaughter in the name of God, we do not know what else they say in Hebrew while slaughtering. Their prayers and methods of slaughtering are in the hands of a few people and are not generally known.

2. The Sachet does not say prayers on all animals he slaughters at a time. Instead, he only says prayers on the first and last animals he slaughters. For example, if a Sachet has to slaughter ten cows, he will only say the prayer on the first and tenth cow while slaughtering, saying nothing on the cows in between.

   This method of slaughtering is not similar to the method prescribed by Sharia for Hanafi sect, nor is it similar to the practice of Ahle-kitab at the time of our beloved Prophet Mohammed Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallum. Meat slaughtered by Ahlekitab was considered halal because of similarity in the slaughtering method and in the Niya at that time.

These are the reasons why most Ulama do not consider Kosher meat halal.

If a Muslim is not in danger of death, he must avoid eating haram food at any cost. If halal meat is not available, one can eat fish or vegetables or can even go to the slaughter house to slaughter an animal himself. There are many halal food stores online who can ship frozen Zabiha meat or Zabiha meat food products overnight. There is no excuse to eat non-zabiha meat or kosher meat in USA.

Zabiha products can easily be found in a big city like New York City. In addition, there are many Muslim-owned restaurants that serve zabiha meat and there is no excuse to eat Kosher.

[Webmaster Note: Purchasing Kosher meats also provides income to Jews who would most-likely support the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israeli forces. Since there is no need to buy Kosher (for the majority of us in the US), buy Halal to support your Muslim brothers/sisters instead.]