Cell-based meat (lab-grown meat): halal or haram?

Introduction- Food products suitable for Muslim consumers should be halal certified, particularly when their originsor production processes are doubtful. For example, meat products must abide by a number of requirements in relationto their preparation, condition and content to be considered halal.Cell-based meat is produced using animal cell culture technology, where meat is produced from animal cells using acombination of biotechnology, tissue engineering and synthetic processes. This technology does not reproduce theanimal itself, but produces a product that is intended to resemble traditional meat from an animal, such as steak,minced meat, etc. Therefore, this research aimed at discussing the Islamic perspective on cell-based meat.Methodology- In writing this review article, we searched in various databases such as scholar, article journal andwebsites based on the keywords including halal, haram, cell-based meat, lab grown meat.Findings- Cell based meats are obtained by taking a portion of meat from the animal’s body such as beef, chicken orfish, either when the animal was still alive or after it was dead. Under this process, we deemed it to be in accordancewith the hadith of Prophet Muhammad PBUH about the ruling on limbs severed from the body when the animal wasstill alive. In a hadith narrated by Abu Waqid al-Laythi, Prophet Muhammad PBUH arrived in Medina and the peopleof Medina cut the camel’s hump and goat’s limbs. Then the Prophet said: Whatever is cut from a living animal is dead(and consequently, considered as unclean). Based on this hadith, there are two important points discussed by Islamicscholars.Firstly, eminent scholars agreed that if the body parts were cut off after the animal was slaughtered and dead, then thebody parts were not considered a carcass and thus it is lawful to they be eaten. However, if the body parts were cutafter it was slaughtered given that the animal was not completely dead, then the act is considered detestable, but thebody parts were still considered clean and thus lawful to be eaten. Thus, in the issue of cultured meat, if the source ofstem cells was taken after the animal is slaughtered, then the cultured meat produced is clean and lawful to be eatenbecause the source is lawful or halal. This ruling applies to all types of animals, be it four-legged, twolegged or animalswith no leg. Secondly, fish and locusts are not included in this ban derived from the previous hadith because there areother hadiths stated that both are permissible. Therefore, if the carcass is lawful to be consumed, then any body parts being cut off are also lawful or halal. Therefore, any cultured meat originating from marine life is consideredpermissible even if the stem cells are taken when the marine life is still alive. Thirdly, Islam has set certain conditionsin slaughtering, which covers the conditions of the animals, the slaughterer and tool used for slaughter.Conclusion- The halal status of cultured meat can be resolve through identifying the source cell and culture mediumused in culturing the meat. The halal cultured meat can be obtained if the stem cell is extracted from a (Halal)slaughtered animal, and no blood or serum is used in the process.

Keywords:

Cultured meat , Halal , Lab grown meat , Islamic view