What is the ruling on eating meat slaughtered in Germany, where the animal is stunned before slaughter, knowing that Germans are People of the Book?

It is permissible to eat the slaughtered animals of the People of the Book, provided that the slaughtering is performed at its proper place by cutting the two jugular veins. As for stunning the animal before slaughter:

- If the animal is slaughtered while it has stable life (light stunning), then it is permissible to eat it.

- If the animal dies from stunning before slaughter, then it is not permissible to eat it and is considered "al-mawqudhah" (an animal beaten to death), as stated in the verse: "except that which you [yourselves] slaughter."

- It is forbidden to stun an animal to torture it, except in cases of necessity where the stunning does not lead to death before slaughter.

- If the state of the slaughtered animal is unknown (whether it died before slaughter or not), the prevailing practice in the country should be considered: if the majority practice is slaughtering it after death by stunning, then it is not lawful to eat it; but if the majority practice is slaughtering it while it still has stable life, then it is permissible to eat.