May the Almighty grant us all the desire and the courage to live a life within the limits prescribed by Him. First of all, it should be kept in mind that mechanized slaughter does not, by itself, mean that the meat extracted from the animal be labeled as 'Jhatka' meat - a term used to imply meat which is improperly slaughtered. 'Jhatka' meat is used only for the meat of an animal, which is slaughtered in such a way that the blood in its veins is not fully drained. The three conditions for the proper slaughter of animals, as given by the Shari`ah are: The animal should be slaughtered in such a way that the carcass is drained of most of the blood circulating in the veins; At the time of the slaughter, God's name should be pronounced on the act; The act of the slaughter should be performed by a person, who does not ascribe partners to God - who is not a polytheist - and who is a believer in one of the established prophets of God (for instance the Christians and the Jews). If any one or more of the stated conditions is lacking in the slaughter of an animal, then the meat of that animal should not be eaten by a Muslim. Keeping the foregoing explanation in perspective, it should be clear that even a mechanized slaughter can fall within the category of lawful meat, if the foregoing conditions are fulfilled. The fulfillment of the first condition is one of the requirements of the FDA legislations in the United States. In a telephonic conversation with one of the FDA officials, I was told that the first condition was generally quite strictly imposed by many states. The official even told me that in some cases they would even arrange for the appropriate personnel to supervise the slaughter and to pronounce God's name on it. If the information provided by the official is deemed to be accurate, then it would not be prudent to consider all meat served in the United States as prohibited. However, because pronouncing God's name on the slaughter is not universally followed, even according to the information provided by the official, and because it is not possible to distinguish between meat upon which God's name is mentioned and upon which it is not mentioned, therefore, a careful Muslim would generally avoid eating this meat. Under the circumstances, I can only suggest that if you are adequately certain that the meat you are served meets the three mentioned criteria, you should avoid eating it. You may, however, eat any meat labeled ' Halaal ' or 'Kosher', as in this case, adherence to the stipulations of the Shari`ah is guaranteed by the labeling authority. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad September 8, 2001 Answer published by Moiz Amjad