Q 2: Is it permissible to eat from the slaughtered animals of the People of the Book despite their Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) and Kufr (disbelief)? Or is it only permissible to eat from the slaughtered animals of those among them who do not associate others with Allah in worship and do not disbelieve in Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his message, but only deny his message and adhere to their religion?

A: It is permissible to eat from the slaughtered animals of the People of the Book, even if they associate Prophet `Isa (peace be upon him) with Allah (Exalted be He) in worship, and completely disbelieve in Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his message to all people including them, because of the generality of the following Ayah (Qur'anic verse): The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them. Also, at the time when the Qur'an was revealed, they were saying that Allah (Exalted be He) was the third of the three (in a Trinity), worshipped three deities, and some of them absolutely denied the message of Muhammad (peace be upon him), (Part No. 22; Page No. 405) yet none of their sects was singled out for the permissibility of its slaughtered animals regardless of the others. Allah (Exalted be He) says: Surely, they have disbelieved who say: "Allâh is the Messiah [‘Isâ (Jesus)], son of Maryam (Mary)." Allah (Exalted be He) says: Surely, disbelievers are those who said: “Allâh is the third of the three (in a Trinity).” Allah also says: And the Jews say: “‘Uzair (Ezra) is the son of Allâh”, and the Christians say: “Messiah is the son of Allâh”. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.