Is Chicken Halal?

The short answer

Chicken itself is halal. It is a farm bird, not a bird of prey, and every school of Islamic law allows it. What decides whether a piece of chicken is halal is how the bird was slaughtered.

What makes chicken meat halal?

• The bird is alive when it is slaughtered.
• The throat is cut with a sharp blade so the blood drains out.
• The name of God is said at the slaughter.
• The slaughterer is a Muslim, or, for many scholars, a Christian or Jew.

Chicken slaughtered this way is called zabiha. Chicken that died any other way counts as carrion, which the Quran forbids.

Is supermarket chicken halal?

Regular supermarket chicken in the USA is not slaughtered to these rules. Most large plants use machines, and many stun the birds first in an electrified water bath. Some scholars accept meat from Christian and Jewish countries, but many do not, and US certifiers that require a Muslim slaughterer, such as IFANCA, do not. So if you want halal chicken, look for a halal mark or buy from a halal butcher.

What about machine-slaughtered and stunned chicken?

Certifiers differ here, and so do halal labels.

• Machine slaughter. Some certifiers accept a machine blade if a Muslim says the name of God, supervises the line and cuts by hand any bird the machine misses. Others accept only hand-cut birds.
• Stunning. Some certifiers accept a stun the bird would recover from. Others reject stunning, because a bird that gets too much current can die before the cut.

If you follow the stricter view, look for the words "hand-cut," "hand-slaughtered" or "zabiha," and check what the certifier allows.

Where else does chicken hide?

Chicken broth, chicken fat and chicken flavor appear in soups, rice mixes, bouillon cubes, gravy and snack seasonings. These carry the same question as the chicken itself.

Common questions

Are eggs halal?

Yes. Eggs from chickens and other halal birds are halal. They do not need slaughter.

Is chicken at fast food chains halal?

Usually not in the USA, though a few locations of some chains buy halal chicken. Each location decides, so ask the restaurant.

Is kosher chicken halal?

Scholars differ. Kosher chicken is hand-slaughtered by a Jewish slaughterer. Some scholars accept it, while others do not, mainly because the name of God is not said over each bird the Islamic way.

Is "halal" chicken always hand-cut?

No. A halal label can cover machine-slaughtered chicken, depending on the certifier. "Zabiha" or "hand-cut" usually signals hand slaughter, but no US law defines these words.

The bottom line

Chicken is a halal animal. Halal chicken meat is chicken slaughtered the Islamic way. In the USA, that means buying halal-certified chicken, and checking whether your certifier allows machine slaughter and stunning if that matters to you.