Can I become vegetarian as a Muslim?
Is that the same as becoming a 'non-meat eater'?Where can I find pure and Halal meat?
A peculiar question was forwarded for discussion among some scholars.
Scholar 1- Question:
One of my close relative believes that she will be answerable to Allah if she eats meat or chicken or even fish if they are not ethically bred or looked after even if sheep and cows and chicken are slaughtered the halal way. She is thinking of becoming a vegetarian. Please comment if she is doing the right thing.
The young Ulama commented as below:
Scolar 2: My simple answer would be that a Muslim may be a vegetarian. only as long they do not regard eating meat as prohibited. Allah knows best.
Scholar 1: How about the point "ethically bred and looked after". It looks like they have a point.
Scholar 2: In terms of ethically being looked after, I don't think that contributes to the meat being Harām. However, in terms of the responsibility that she is referring to, in that case I don't think she will be liable for that, especially considering the approach to finding out if an animal was ethically bred or slaughtered.
However in light of her point, it has been mentioned through several narrations in terms of how animals need to be treated but that lies in the responsibility of the owner.
Scholar 1: Makes sense; Masha-Allah.
Scholar 3: The standard in Islam is to eat حلال and طيب and therefore it is ethically valid to question to that extent but beyond that Islam does not force one to be a non vegetarian and therefore down to personal choice not belief.
Scholar 1: شكرا
Scholar 4: There are a handful of companies like this that have popped up recently (that sell free range chicken, lamb, goat and turket).
https://www.freerangehalalmeat.co.uk/
Scholar 1: wow. It's a solution for her then.
Scholar 2: (I concur.) Although one thing I ought to mention, there are ways to find free range so, so that would be her best solution.
Scholar 1: True.
Scholar 5: Obviously as Muslims we must eat Halal and should eat Tayyib. In this respect, the sister is correct in her thinking.
Furthermore, not eating meat is not a problem. However, labelling oneself as a vegetarian is a problematic for a Muslim I believe. This is because the vegetarian society thinks it is cruel to consume animals altogether; they even consider the Halal Zabah as cruel and inhumane, even is the animal was fed and treated well.
This is only from my limited thinking and Allah knows best.
Scholar 1: Shukran!
Scholar 2: Overall, I guess it is down to personal research. To answer the question though, she won't be questioned for the meat she has eaten where it was not ethically bred. But if in her capacity she is aware of such actions, in that case, she will be made liable in a sense that she can choose to have ethically bred animals rather then going vegetarian.
I also agree with (scholar 5) that the term 'vegetarian' nowadays is vaguely loose term. She needs to be careful of making which something Allah made halal, haram for herself and choosing to eating vegetables, but NOT against eating meat.
Scholar 1: Wonderful discussion, very informative.
Scholar 2: If she is also a person who eats HMC only too AND wants free range, there are some home bred organic meats (may be expensive, however, if she is willing to go for it, then it would be very rewarding for her)
Scholar 1: Jazakumullahu Khairan!
