Halal meat is meat from permitted animals that have been slaughtered according to Islamic law, with the name of God pronounced over each animal; halal refers to what is permissible in Islam. That is the short answer. The fuller picture takes in what the animal ate, how it was treated in life, how it was slaughtered, who carried it out, and how the meat was handled on its way to your kitchen.
As a family business that has been preparing halal meat in Leicester since the 1980s, we answer these questions every day: from Muslim customers who want to know what a certificate actually guarantees, and from non-Muslim customers who are simply curious about what the word on the label means. This guide explains halal food and meat rules under Islamic dietary laws, in plain English.
Halal is an Arabic word meaning permissible or lawful in Islam. It applies to far more than food; income, conduct and business dealings can all be halal or otherwise. Its opposite is haram, meaning forbidden. Applied to meat, halal describes meat that Muslims are permitted to eat because both the animal and the method of slaughter are prepared in accordance with Islamic dietary laws.
Some foods are haram regardless of how they are prepared, and these rules guide halal consumption generally, not just meat. Pork and its by-products are the best-known example, along with blood, carrion and alcohol. Other meats, including beef, lamb, mutton, goat and poultry, are halal only when the animal is slaughtered correctly. A cow is not halal simply because it is a cow.
For meat to be halal, the slaughter process, known as dhabihah, must satisfy a set of conditions that scholars draw from the Qur’an and the practice of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):
There are also conditions around the animal’s treatment beforehand. It should be watered and rested, handled calmly, and should not see the blade being sharpened or another animal being slaughtered. Welfare is not an afterthought in this process; under halal guidelines and halal principles, the requirement for kindness to the animal runs through the Islamic teaching on slaughter.
This is the question behind many searches, and it deserves a straight answer. The dhabihah method for slaughtering animals is designed to be as quick as possible, with the aim of reducing pain and suffering. A single cut with a sharp knife severs the major blood vessels supplying the brain, causing a rapid drop in blood pressure and loss of consciousness. The intact spinal cord means the animal’s convulsions, which can look distressing, are muscle reflexes occurring after consciousness is lost, as blood leaves the body.
The debate you may have read about in the news usually concerns stunning, the practice of rendering an animal unconscious before slaughter. UK law permits religious slaughter without prior stunning because the law recognises the method’s religious basis, and a significant proportion of UK halal meat does in fact come from animals stunned before slaughter under other certification schemes. Different certifiers take different positions: some accept stunning only where it demonstrably does not kill the animal before the cut, while HMC, the body that certifies our meat, does not accept stunning at all, on the grounds that it risks the animal dying before the cut, which would render the meat haram, and that it departs from the prophetic method. Whichever side of that debate a certifier sits on, every slaughterhouse in the UK, halal or otherwise, operates under the same animal welfare regulations, veterinary oversight and hygiene law.
What we would say from four decades in this trade is that genuine care for the animal and genuine halal compliance point in the same direction: calm handling, a sharp blade, a swift act and nothing rushed.
Anyone can print the word halal on a label. Certification exists so that you do not have to take their word for it.
The Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) is one of the UK’s most trusted halal certification bodies, and the standard we have chosen for every product we sell. HMC’s approach is distinctive because it relies on physical inspection and continuous monitoring rather than paperwork alone. HMC inspectors are present at slaughter to verify each animal is prepared in accordance with halal criteria by a Muslim slaughterman with the tasmiyah pronounced, without stunning. The carcasses are then tagged and tracked through cutting, processing and distribution, protecting halal products so the chain of custody is never broken. Certified outlets are monitored, and certification can be withdrawn where standards slip.
When you see the HMC logo at Al Barakah Meats, it means that monitored chain runs unbroken from the abattoir to our cutting plant at Leicester Food Park and on to your order. You can read more about how we work, and ask us anything we have not covered, via our FAQ page.
Halal integrity matters across food production, not only at the moment of slaughter. Cross-contamination with non-halal meat at any later stage is just as much of a problem, which is why we control the whole journey.
Our grass-fed Angus beef, lamb and poultry come from farms in the UK and Ireland with a commitment to ethical, humane husbandry, where farmed animals are raised on a natural diet. Slaughter takes place under HMC monitoring. The meat then comes to our own HACCP approved, temperature-controlled cutting plant in Leicester, where our butchers prepare every order fresh, vacuum pack it and seal it. Nothing non-halal enters the building, so there is no possibility of halal and non-halal meat crossing paths. From there, your order is delivered or ready for click and collect.
That end-to-end control is the reason restaurants and nationwide franchises trust our wholesale supply, and it is exactly the same meat we sell by the kilo in our online shop.
Halal status itself is about permissibility, not flavour, and we would be wary of anyone making grand claims otherwise. In the wider context of meat consumption, what affects eating quality is everything surrounding it: the breed, the feed, the animal’s stress levels and how the meat is handled afterwards. Thorough draining of blood also matters; blood left in meat spoils faster and can carry a metallic taint.
This is where proper halal food practices often overlap with simple good butchery. Calm animals, grass-fed Angus beef, locally sourced lamb and chicken, and fresh preparation make better-tasting meat, whoever is eating it. Plenty of our regulars are not Muslim; they come back because the meat is good.
“Halal only applies to the slaughter.” The slaughter is central, but contamination afterwards can make otherwise halal meat unfit. Storage, cutting and packing matter too.
“All halal labels mean the same thing.” Standards differ between certifiers, particularly on stunning, and they are not the same as kosher meat standards either. If the detail matters to you, look for the certifying body, not just the word halal. We display HMC certification because of its monitored, end-to-end approach.
“Halal meat is just for Muslims.” Anyone can eat halal meat. Nothing about the process makes it unsuitable for anybody else.
“Halal slaughter is unregulated.” Halal abattoirs in the UK operate under the same food safety and welfare law as every other abattoir, and welfare law still applies when slaughter is carried out in accordance with religious requirements, with certification requirements layered on top.
What is the difference between halal and haram?
Halal means permissible under Islamic law and is part of the wider halal food rules in Islam; haram means forbidden. Pork and blood are always haram. Beef, lamb, goat and poultry are halal when slaughtered correctly, though meat may not be considered halal if its ingredients or handling do not meet the rules.
Who can perform halal slaughter?
A Muslim of sound mind who understands the requirements, using a sharp blade and pronouncing the name of Allah over each animal.
Is all our meat HMC certified?
Yes. Every product at Al Barakah Meats, from wagyu and dry-aged beef to everyday mince, is 100% HMC certified halal.
Where can I buy HMC halal meat in Leicester?
From our counter at Leicester Food Park, or through our online shop for delivery across the UK. Our guide to buying fresh halal meat in Leicester covers what to look for in any halal butcher.
We started as a neighbourhood butcher’s shop in Highfields, Leicester, and the standard has never changed: if we would not serve it to our own family, we do not sell it. Browse our full HMC halal range, learn more about us, or get in touch through our contact page if you have a question about halal we have not answered here.
