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What is the ruling on meat imported from Islamic and non-Islamic countries, and what is the ruling on the meat of the People of the Book according to the majority of scholars?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

An animal is permissible if it is slaughtered with a legal Islamic slaughter (dhakah shar'iyyah), and its slaughterer is a Muslim or a person of the Book (Jew or Christian), based on the Almighty's saying: "And the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you." The animal slaughtered by an idol worshipper, an atheist, an apostate, or one who does not adhere to a monotheistic religion is not permissible. It is a condition that the slaughter be performed according to the Islamic method; it is not permissible if the animal is strangled or electrocuted. Meats imported from Muslim countries or from People of the Book are permissible unless there are indications that they were slaughtered in an unlawful manner. However, if the country is predominantly ruled by Zoroastrians (Magi) or those who do not adhere to a monotheistic religion, the meats from it are considered carrion unless it is known that they were slaughtered in a lawful manner by Muslims or People of the Book.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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