RE: Halal meat in schools?

[Majid Katme]

COPY FOR YOU

THE EDITOR                                                         9 Jan
OXFORD MAIL
                              FOR PUBLICATION/LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
 
Dear Sir,
 
Please allow us to give a Muslim response to your recent  published article :

MUMS BACK HALAL MEAT PROTEST,by George Hamilton
 
In the beginning,we  would like as Muslims, to support the principle that no children  of any other faith should be given halal meat in  any school,without the knowledge or  the permission of the parents.
Informed choice is a must to every citizen in this country.
The parents have the right to protest and the school's administration are at fault in causing all this  unnecessary protest and petition!
However,we  feel we should explain and give an idea  about the issue of  halal meat and animal slaughter as there are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstanding about it;
The Halal  method of animal slaughter,called also  the  direct method  without the use of any stunning procedure,is the same method which started by the father of all prophets:Abraham and adopted  after by the prophet Moses for all the Jews(Kosher meat),by  the blessed Jesus for the Christians,as Jesus was a Jew),and finally adopted by the prophet Muhammad(peace be upon them all) to all the Muslims in the world.
It is a religious method where the Name of GOD is mentioned before the act of slaughter ,after providing all types of animal welfare and care to the animal before.
My scientific medical research before ,as well as the medical researches of many non Muslim scientists have prooved that the use of  of the different  stunning techniques before slaughtering the animal, cause:
 
-"Pain and suffering" to the animal  ,which is very inhumane and is contrary to what many  people think ?
 Till now,there is no single scientific research in the whole world which do prooves that the direct religious method of  animal slaughter, can cause any pain or cruelty to the animal.
- The Stopping or weakening  of the heart,before  doing the cut ,thus causing less bleeding out and more blood staying inside the meat ,Medically,if blood is consumed,it is a great health hazard to man!
- The Death of some animals before the act of slaughter.(which is clearly prohibited in Islam)
-Changes in the natural healthy composition of the meat's  ingredients ,thus making the meat unhealthy not pure  and not wholesome.
-Risk of getting BSE,in the stunning of the  the cows ?
 Many states in the US have prohibited the stunning of the cows lately.
 
If requested,we can send  to any one ,some of these  new scientific medical researches on animal slaughter.
 
Islam and all the Divine teachings are against all these horrifying outcomes which do result from  the use of these stunning techniques.
The religious method of  the animal  slaughter,when is done properly ,will avoid us all these forbidden,inhumane  and undesirable  health outcomes.
We in fact ,do recommend  to all ,to eat the meat coming  only from religious slaughter,as it has been  prooved now to be the only HUMANE  and  the most HEALTHY method of animal slaughter  ,especially when they have been adopted by  all the three Monotheistic religions through:Moses Jesus and Muhammad(peace be upon them).
We appeal finally to all the schools  in Britain to facilitate the provision of real halal meat to all Muslim children in schools and to avoid them the consumption  of  any porcine or alcoholic substance,which are prohibited to consume and  is  still a big concern to all the Muslim parents today!
 
Dr A.Majid Katme(MBBCh,DPM)
 
Spokesman on Halal meat and food ( Islamic Medical Association )
 
Tel: 07944 240 622
 
Address:
 
31 North Circular Road Palmers Green London N13 5EG