German Muslims Extol Halal Butchery Ruling

German Muslims Extol Halal Butchery Ruling

By Ahmed Al-Matboli , IOL Correspondent

BERLIN — German Muslims have welcomed a court ruling allowing animal slaughter in accordance with Shari`ah.
"Slaughtering sheep for Udhiyah (sacrificing sheep for God) is indispensable for Muslims," Ayyub Axel K?hler, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, told IslamOnline.net Saturday, November 25.

The German federal administrative court in Leipzig ruled Thursday, November 23, that Muslims are allowed to butcher animals in accordance with Shari`ah and without anesthetization.

Turkish butcher Rustem Altinkupe has been battling for nine years to obtain an exemption from German animal-slaughtering rules for religious reasons.

The court said that the animal protection bill, which is enshrined in the German constitution, did not prevent officials from granting the Muslim butcher a license on religious grounds to butcher animals without anesthetization.

Thursday's ruling upheld a 2002 verdict by Germany's highest court that halal butchery was protected under religious freedom.

Furor

The court ruling has immediately sparked furor in the European country.

"It is merciless tolerance," headlined German daily Die Tageszeitung.

The daily claimed that "politics had played a role in triggering the court ruling".

The Church and Animal movement also blasted the ruling.

The movement's head was quoted as claiming that animal slaughtering without anesthetization was practiced by only a few Muslims.

Pro-animal groups claim that halal killing was cruel and had been outlawed by a constitutional amendment that obliges Germany to protect animals.

Islam demands that an animal must be slaughtered by cutting its throat (to cause its death).

The concept of halal, -- meaning permissible in Arabic -- has traditionally been applied to food.

Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.

Udhiyah Campaign

Meanwhile, German Muslims have launched a fund-raising campaign for Udhiyah (sacrificial animal) during the four-day `Eid Al-Adha, scheduled late December.

Every sacrificial animal will cost nearly 100 euros.

Ali Boscort of the Turkish Milliyet Gurus society said that the donations will be channeled to needy Muslims around the world as well as people facing famine in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan.

A financially-able Muslim sacrifices a single sheep or goat or shares six others in sacrificing a camel or cow as an act of worship during `Eid Al-Adha.

The ritual reminds Muslims of the great act of sacrifice Prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma`eel were willing to make for the sake of God.

Germany is home to a 3.2-million-strong Muslim minority and Islam comes third after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.