Question Summary:
Is it permissible to consume meat products from Australia and Brazil?

Question Detail:

I am studying at Kyoto University in Japan. Australian Halal Beef/Mutton, and Sadia Halal Chicken of Brazil are mostly available in Japan for cooking as well as served in Halal restaurants too. The shops selling these meats (both cooked and raw) say that the Australian Meat is Certified by the Halal Certifiers of Australia, and the Sadia chicken of Brazil is also certified as Halal.

Since I arrived here in Japan a couple of months ago, I have been eating the Australian Beef and Sadia Brazil Chicken. But I stopped eating these meats since I was advised by one of the Tabhleegi Jamaat friend, that Australian Beef/Mutton and Sadia Brazil Chicken are not considered Halal as these meats are Machine Cut and also stunned before Slaughtering. I am in a big confusion and therefore I want to ask you whether it is permissible to eat the Australian Beef/Mutton and Sadia Brazil Chicken?
Also, I do not understand the necessity of using the method of "Stunning" before slaughtering, as it is being practiced in Australian Halal Beef/Mutton. Also, i searched on the Internet and found about an Independent Research conducted by Mufti Abdullah Nana (Graduate of Darul Uloom Azadville, South Africa) of Mill Valley, California, USA, who travelled to Australia and has seen the whole process and has pronouonced the certified Australian Halal Meat as Halal. (But not all the Australian certifications, only a few).
I request you to please give me a clear answer whether to eat Australian Halal meat and Sadia Halal Chicken or not, and also tell me some Fatwas regarding the consumption of machine cut meat. Please give me an answer regarding the Tabhleegi Jamaat point of view. Jazak Allah.

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
We commend you for exercising precaution from eating that which you are unsure of and praise you for your desire to eat halāl.
Consuming halāl is an order of Allah and an essential part of the Islamic faith. Allah has repeatedly emphasised the consumption of halāl in the Qur῾an.  Ponder over the following:
“O you who believe, eat from the pure things which we have provided you” (Quran 2:172)
 “And do not eat that upon which the name of Allah has not been mentioned, for indeed it is a grave disobedience”. (Quran 6:121)
By being negligent about the dietary laws of Islam, one puts himself in danger in this world and the world hereafter. In this ephemeral world, the consumption of an unlawful morsel deprives oneself from having any of his good deeds and dū῾ā accepted.  In the hereafter, his body will not be eligible to enter Paradise. All this is confirmed in the following ahādīth:
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (radiallahu ahnu) relates that the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said:
 Verily Allah is pure and He accepts only what is pure and indeed Allah has given those orders to the believers, which he has given to the Messengers. He has said, “O Messenger, eat from the pure foods and work righteous”. He -also- has said: “O you who believe, eat from the pure things which we have provided you.” Then (the Prophet) made mention of a man who undergoes a lengthy journey in a state that he is dishevelled and dusty. He spreads his hands towards the sky (calling), “O my lord, O my lord”, however his food is harām, his drink is harām, his clothes are harām and he has been nourished with harām! So how will his call be answered?”[1] (Sahīh Muslim hadith number 1015)
Sayyiduna S'ad (radiallahu anhu) relates that the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam said “O S'ad purify your food (and as a result) you will become one who's supplications are accepted. I swear by Him in whose hands the soul of Muhammad lies, verily a servant (of Allah) tosses a harām morsel in his stomach (due to which) no deed is accepted from him for 40 days”[2]  (Tabarani hadīth no.6395)
Sayyiduna Ka`b Ibn Ujrah (radiallahu anhu) relates that the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “a body nourished with harām will not enter Jannah”. (Tirmidhi hadith no.614)[3]
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (radiallahu anhu) reports that the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “A time will come upon the people wherein a man will not bother what he intakes; whether from a halāl source or harām.”[4] (Bukhari hadith no.2059)
In our times, it becomes even more important to ensure the meat and poultry consumed is genuinely halāl due to the excessive deceit, cheat and false labelling of halāl in the industry

We are not in the position to comment on the meat exported from Brazil.
We have been informed that meat shipment exported from Australia clearly has establishment numbers on the packets containing the meat.  Can you inform us on the certifying body and establishment number your meat carries?  Is there any specific certifying body or slaughterhouse you are aware of which your meat comes from?
Feel free to contact us or alternatively, you may wish to contact Mufti Faizal Riza Sahib (madda zilluhu) who is located in Australia and is in a better position to comment on exported meat from Australia.  Mufti Faizal Riza Sahib (madda zilluhu) is a competent and a reliable Mufti.  He maybe contacted through:
http://www.mufti-online.net 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mawlana Faraz Ibn Adam,
Student Darul Iftaa
UK
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net