What does 'Halal' mean?!
What does 'Halal' mean?
Answers:
Halal, or more accurately, zabihah, means that the meat was butchered according to Islamic laws.
It's SIMILAR TO the Kosher butchering technique, but NOT identical.
The key things are:
1. The animal is slaughtered away from other animals being slaughtered. It is not to be stressed in any way. It is given a drink of water. It is faced in the direction of Mecca.
2. The butcher says the name of God over the name of each animal. This is different from Kosher, because Kosher butchers say a prayer before they enter the room to do all their slaughtering. Muslims say the prayer over EACH INDIVIDUAL animal.
3. This part is the same as Kosher butchering: The animal's throat is cut with a single slash from a long, sharp blade with no nicks or imperfections in it. This is to minimize the animal's suffering.