In terms of questioning your faith, I'd hope that most people reach a certain point in time where they begin to question what they have been brought up to believe in. Islam encourages us to seek knowledge.
Personally, I would be lying to myself if I tried to convince myself that there wasn't a God, for me it is a case of trying to find the right path, as I am still doing. Those who are honest to themselves and believe there is no Creator, I salute them firstly because for them to arrive at that stage means they must be at least thinking. Unknowingly, they have actually accepted the very first part of the Shahadah (the Islamic declaration of faith) which begins with 'There is no god'. Once you have eliminated all models of god which are man made, can you later go on and accept the One true God, since the shahadah continues... 'except Allah'. We have no images of God, we have a limited understanding and can never fully comprehend the Creator of the universe in all His Glory. We try to form a relationship with God and get closer to God through His names, which describe His attributes.
That's not trolling?!
Can I ask you guys;what exactly is the significance of Halal to you?
Seriously though what's specifically wrong with stunning before killing? Why does the animal need to be conscious before it's killed? Is it a a direct requirement of Halal or is it just an indicator that something else hasn't been followed?
Unfortunately, what I have come to realise from my own experiences is that many Muslims when referring to halaal meat, seem to only be concerned with how an animal is slaughtered. From my understanding of Islam, for meat to truly be halaal the animal should be looked after, free to roam around in open space and treated with respect. If it is abused and kept in a confined space, genetically modified, pumped full of drugs and hormones to make it fatter to increase profits, I would question whether this meat can be halaal irrespective of the manner in which it is slaughtered.
Not only that but recent documentaries I have seen where they go undercover and take meat from various halaal places, it was discovered the meat actually contained pork. In reality, even though many places have a certificate on the wall saying 'HALAAL CERTIFIED' even they themselves have little clue as to what is actually going into the meat, they will normally buy it at the cheapest price possible. It's one of the reasons why I hope to leave this country since I think it's becoming more and more difficult to find actual halaal food, and I can see it becoming even more difficult as time goes on.
As a non Muslim, or non religious person, I can see how you may regard the Islamic slaughter method as inhumane since, yes you do see blood but you need to take a step back and be objective. Firstly, we as Muslims believe that our Creator (who also created all creatures) has permitted us to kill animals for the purpose of food. As soon as you cut the main artery in the neck it stops blood flow to the brain instantly and the animal cannot possibly feel pain. Please watch this video, don't worry there is no blood:
The animal itself submits to the Will of God (that is our view) but you can see for yourself, they are in absolutely no state of panic, no shock, no pain. Once they recite the prayer over the animal, the animal submits. Compare this to the videos I have seen of animals where the 'more humane' method is used - the animals are running around in a state of frenzy, who knows what sorts of chemicals are released into the blood once you start to pump x number of volts into an animals brain? The prophets of God all slaughtered animals in the best manner and it is the manner which we try to follow today, this will never change because no matter what mainstream society thinks, when you actually believe in God (and that is ultimately what it comes down too) then you have no difficulty in accepting that He has already shown us the best way. I hope that goes some way in answering your question.
