Slaughtering by means of machines observing Shari`ah

Q: In Egypt, meat is imported from countries embracing Christianity and Judaism. We have heard that such countries do not slaughter animals according to Shari`ah (Islamic law). In addition to this, some people say that the present day Christians have disbelieved in Christianity and in the Injil (Gospel) revealed to them and that most of them have turned into atheists. Some of them, on the other hand, believe in what is called (Part No. 22; Page No. 406) the Holy Book, which is a book written by clerics who assembled it from a number of gospels which were existent during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) although it was distorted.Some people claim that slaughtering animals by machine, even if according to Shari`ah, should be done by a Muslim or a person from the people of the Book. According to the claim mentioned above, there are no people of the Book anymore. They even claim that if we consider that the machine does the slaughtering process without regarding the worker who presses the "on" button, then the slaughtered animal will be considered to be killed as if a knife falls onto a person causing their death.I hope Your Eminence will examine all the parts of this Fatwa request and answer them in detail, because these issues bring many problems to the Muslims and we have been boycotting meat for about a year.

A: Firstly, the Jews and the Christians have disbelieved in many of the principles of Iman (Faith) which were stated in the Tawrah (Torah) and Injil. The Jews have disbelieved in the prophethood of some prophets, such as `Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad (peace be upon them), used to kill them unjustly, distorted many of the rulings stated in Tawrah, a group of them claim that `Uzayr (Ezra) is the son of Allah, etc. The Christians, on the other hand, claim that Allah is the third of the three (in a Trinity) and that `Isa is the son of Allah and deny the prophethood of Muhammad (Part No. 22; Page No. 407) (peace be upon him), etc. Nevertheless, Allah has named the Jews and the Christians the People of the Book and rendered it Halal (lawful) for Muslims to eat their sacrificial animals and marry their chaste women. Their disbelief, polytheism, and distortion of their revealed books were not an obstacle to applying the rulings of the People of the Book to them during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Accordingly, they are not an obstacle to applying these rulings to them until the Day of Resurrection.Secondly, using machines for slaughtering animals whose flesh is permissible to eat according to Shari`ah does not differ from slaughtering them using a knife. Hence, whosoever presses the on button by whatever means and mentions the Name of Allah Alone, it is Halal to eat their slaughtered animals, be they Muslims, Jews, or Christians. This is because any animal whose blood is caused to flow and Allah's Name is mentioned over it is Halal to eat except what is slaughtered using teeth and nails.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.