Is it lawful or not to buy and eat chicken from shops and restaurants in USA? Worth mentioning is that we are Iraqi Muslim refugees and that the price of chicken in Islamic supermarkets and restaurants is high compared to other non-Islamic ones in USA. Kindly elaborate on this issue.

In the Name of Allah The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful

Praise be to Allah; Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon the Messenger, his household and his companions.

As far as we know about the way and procedure of slaughtering in this country, we do not find it sinful to eat chicken's meat from public stores. The federal law obligates shedding the blood of chicken. Furthermore, the use of electric shock is intended to weaken them to facilitate their slaughtering and it does not kill except a small percent. The people in this country are mostly Christians and Jews, and therefore, eating the chicken there is not considered sinful. However, we prefer eating the meat of chicken slaughtered in slaughterhouses supervised by Muslims who apply all the legal conditions for slaughtering. And Allah knows best.