CONSUMING DISEASED BROILER CHICKENS IS NOT PERMISSIBLE
Question
Is it permissible to consume broiler chickens if they are slaughtered correctly, that is, according to the Shariah? Take into consideration the cruel, haraam history of these chickens.
Many Muslims are of the opinion that despite the fact that chickens have been grown to size in the most brutal and appalling conditions, that if after all this, they are hand cut, then they are Halaal to consume.
Consider the following:
How cruel can the chickens short life span be ? Initially they were just ordinary eggs until being placed in incubators being forcibly turned over many times in a rotating machine to speed up the hatching. The chicks come into this world and the first thing they see is not a gentle mother, but numb workers and cold machines. Just a few hours after being born, they haven’t even learnt how to stand completely, they are roughly thrown onto a conveyor belt.
The indifferent workers classify them based on their weaknesses. Weak chicks will face a machine that will grind them into pieces and end their lives. Chicks that pass the selection will enter another assembly line. After being vaccinated they are immediately sent to the fattening farms starting their dark short life. There is an endless supply of special feed here that helps the chicks grow quickly.
They are fed 24 hours daily and are denied outdoor life and don’t see the Sun or grass. Their living space is an area the size of an A4 page. Now, the growth rate of their leg bones cannot keep up with the growth rate of their bodies causing their legs to be unable to bear their body weight. Combined with the development of their internal organs ,they can’t even stand , let alone walk normally. So they can only lie down in despair.
After 4 to 5 weeks they are sent to the slaughter houses where they are yanked upside down proceeding to a salty electrified water trough where their heads are dunked in order to stun them prior to cutting their necks. Then they are processed and forced to become human food. Thus their ignorant and painful lives come to an end .
Now , many Muslims buy these grown chickens and slaughter them by hand in their backyards or warehouses. They shout above the rooftops that these hand cut chickens are without doubt, pure and Halaal. Please comment.
Answer and comment
If the slaughtering is correctly effected, the chickens will be technically halaal. However, consuming these diseased and brutalized chickens is not permissible. The cruelty to which these chickens are subjected is sufficient to deter a genuine Muslim from consuming the diseased meat regardless of the slaughtering having been done correctly.
The harm to the health renders consumption impermissible. These chickens cause serious diseases. On the basis of the harms it is not permissible to consume these broiler chickens. The cruelty is an aggravating factor. Muslims are not supposed to support the haraam and brutal practices of the kuffaar.
It is the addiction to devouring these diseased chickens which has spawned so much cancer and heart diseases. Even if these chickens are slaughtered 100% halaal, then too, it is necessary to abstain from consuming the disease.
20 Jamaadil Ula 1445 – 4 December 2023