Halal Meat: At the time of Slaughtering- Is Allah's name imperative to be taken or absence of any other name being taken would establish it Halal too?

Question:
salaam Khalid,
I want to question u on the halal meat issue. All verses regarding food permissibility in the Quran state that foods in which names in which other gods are mentioned, are prohibited, not that it is prohibited if nothing is pronounced. The only exception to this, if I'm correct is 6:121. However it seems to me from the context that this is addressing to the pagan practice of pronouncing other gods because the surrounding verses and context is dealing with the mushrikeen. So if your interpretation is correct why
would the prohibition not be added to those other verses. For example: in 2:173, it states :"...and animals dedicated to other than GOD", where it might have said "and animals not dedicated to God", which in my opinion would be a lot clearer if your interpretation stands correct.

Thanks.

Response:
Assalamo Alaikum

The way we understand the narration of Shari'ah in the Qur'an is that the Almighty mentions a rule while allowing a few questions to remain unanswered. Those unanswered questions are in the domain of what we might call Fiqh. If we don't find any clear answers anywhere in the Qur'an or Hadith to such questions, we will apply our own understanding to know them as best as we can apply it. However, at times such unanswered questions are
addressed by the Almighty Himself in the Qur'an elsewhere or the Prophet, Alaihissalaam, clarified them in his statements.

An example of the Qur'an responding to some unanswered questions in the statement of the basic Shari'ah is the explanations offered in the book in verses 24:58-61 to the basic law of gender interaction mentioned in 24:30-31. An example of the prophet explaining an unexplained verse is his response to the question as to what portion of a person's wealth can he will for? He advised a person to leave a maximum of one-third of his wealth for
the benefit of those who have not been mentioned in the law of inheritance through his will.
It is likewise not explained in the Qur'anic verses that talk of the prohibition of animals that have been slaughtered in the name of anyone other than Allah whether this law would preclude the possibility of eating from the flesh of animals that have been slaughtered without pronouncing God's name either. In the absence of a clear mention about this question, I agree, there could have been more than one opinion about it. However, after a clear mention in the Qur'an in this regard, the issue has been settled once and for all. The Qur'anic wordings are unmistakable: "And do not eat from the flesh of animals on whom God's name has not been pronounced, because it is a transgression." (6:121) The words "lam uzkarismullahi alaihi" (God's name has not been pronounced on it) cannot be construed to mean "those on whom the name of someone other than God has been pronounced."


Khalid Zaheer

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