Is halal meat any better than other treif meat (of kosher species)?

Question

I know that Islam has many of the same rules about meat that we do, though also some important differences (like that they allow some non-kosher species). I've heard that in towns where halal meat isn't available they can eat kosher meat. If the situation is reversed and it's the kosher meat that's not available to a small Jewish community, is it less bad for a Jew to eat halal if the species is kosher? Or is it no better than any other meat that didn't have proper sh'chita?

Halal meat isn't kosher, but perhaps there are degrees of "bad" with it being less bad to eat halal than some other non-kosher meat. Or perhaps all non-kosher meat is equally bad so there's no point in somebody trying to mitigate his meat-availability problem with halal meat.

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This question is based on another that was asked and deleted. I ask it to allow a better place to put an answer that was moved in a merge I shouldn't have done. I apologize to those involved.

Answer 1

This is from the original question that this was asked about being in a small community very far away (think Texas or Alaska and the distances between communities in that state) from any source of kosher food (especially meat). The OP asked if Hallal would be preferable to regular non-kosher meat. The OP also mentioned eating fish in the original question, which is why I mentioned getting kosher fish from a regular fish market.

As part of my answer, I point out that kosher food can be shipped anywhere in the United States (which was also specified in the original question).

The hallal is just as much neveilah as any kosher species meat slaughtered by any other non-kosher butcher and just as forbidden. As I explain in Why is meat only kosher if a Jew slaughters the animal?, even if a non-Jew slaughters under the supervision of Jew who makes sure that everything was done properly, the meat is still forbidden as neveilah.

Similarly, you would need to check on how to get kosher fish products from a general fish market. One way would be to get kosher fish (fins and scales) and use your onwn (kosher) knife for the clerk to scale and cut the fish.

There are national brands that have a hechsher that you can find in your local supermakets. There are national brands that you can order to be shipped to you if they are not in your local stores.

Google is your friend. I did a search on Texas ship kosher meat to home and got a number of links to different stores that will send it to you. Note that since I do not need to do this, I cannot verify the kashrus or quality of any of the stores that have these web sites. When you do a google, you would also get non-Kosher ads as well, so you need to double check who they are and what hechsher they have.

For example

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Answer 2

As sabbahillel pointed out, there's a great site that highlights the differences between ḥalāl and kosher meat.

They highlight the various problems of ḥalāl that render the meat treif - i.e. it's not a kosher slaughtering, and thus is no different from regular non-kosher meat.

So to answer your question: unless you can ascertain these all issues are taken care of, there's no difference between ḥalāl and regular non-kosher meat.

These issues are:
(Copied & pasted with minor edits, for future reference in case the site goes down)

• Halakhic law specifies which types of fats and nerves are prohibited. The majority of madhhabs allowed the Muslim to consume these parts that are typically not considered kosher after a Jewish slaughter. The only exception to this is the Mālikī school, which deems the consumption of these parts impermissible.

  • Gid hanashe - the sciatic nerve needs to be properly removed

  • The various Chelev - non-Kosher fats need to be removed

• Creatures that are prohibited for Jews but allowed for Muslims include: Sharks, shellfish and crustaceans (lobster, crabs, etc.) [Note: for the Ḥanafīs these animals are also not permitted]. Some types of birds (e.g., ostrich, emu). Camels (because it does not have a proper ‘split hoof’).
• Jewish law forbids mixing meat and dairy products together. There is no equivalent in Islamic law.
• Non-Kosher utensil need to be properly kashered. Islamic law, on the other hand, would only require the regular washing of any such utensil and would permit its subsequent usage to cook or consume ḥalāl products in.
• Jewish law requires a specific type of person (called a shochet) to slaughter. Typically, the shochet is an observant male Jew trained in the practice of slaughter. Islamic law allows any male or female Christian, Muslim or Jew to sacrifice as long as that person follows the proper procedure of slaughtering. Therefore, it is primarily for this reason that a dhabīḥa animal can never be kosher for observant Jews because the slaughter would be performed by a Muslim.
• The perfection of the knife blade – Jewish law requires visual and physical inspection; Islamic law only requires a sharp knife even if there are some imperfections (e.g., minor abrasions and nicks would be permissible in Islam).
• Jewish law requires one continuous stroke for a slaughter (moving the knife back and forth would be allowed), whereas Islamic law would prefer one stroke, but the slaughter would not be invalidated if the slaughterer quickly followed a first improper stroke with another one.
• In Jewish law, the knife must be at least two times the size of the animal’s neck, and perfectly straight, whereas there is no such requirement in Islam.
  (Not sure he's right about the perfectly straight - Danny)
• Jewish law completely forbids stunning, and a stunned animal would be treif; Islamic law is not unified on this point, as most authorities would consider stunning makrūh, but as long as the animal is alive and has a pulse, the slaughter would still be considered ḥalāl.
• Depending on which Islamic madhab one followed, the number of passages in the neck of the animal cut might be less for some opinions of Islamic law (however, a perfect cut in both religious would require the esophagus, trachea, arteries and jugular).
• While the disconnecting of the spine is prohibited in both laws, in Jewish law this would render the animal treif, whereas according to the majority opinion in Islamic law, this is makrūh but does not render the animal ḥarām (note that some authorities would view such an act as making the animal ḥarām).
• Jewish law requires a visual inspection of the lungs and some other internal organs of the animal after slaughter. Specific defects associated with these organs makes the animal treif, whereas the total absence of any imperfection (i.e., adhesion-free lungs) renders the animal a higher level of kosher, called glatt kosher. If such a level of perfection was not achieved, but the procedure was followed, the meat would merely be kosher. And some type of defects would, in fact render the animal treif even after proper slaughter. There is no equivalent to such a post-slaughter examination in Islamic law.

In addition, I would add:

• Kashering - meat needs to be salted in a specific way before it is deemed kosher.
• Bishul Akim - meat cooked by non-Jews is not kosher.

Conclusion: regular halāl slaughtering only resembles sh'chita from a distance - they both require a knife to cut off the head. The 5 critical forbidden techniques (i.e. pausing, pressing, digging, location and tearing - see link for details) are totally missing along with a host of minor issues - all which render the meat teif - 100% non-kosher and different from non-ḥalāl meat.