Ruling of saying bismillah before consuming haram meat due to fear of losing life of starvation ?

Question:

What is the ruling of saying bismillah before consuming haram meat when one is compelled to eat it due to fear of losing their life out of starvation? Answer: ﺑﺴﻢ اﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﯿﻢ In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Allah ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ says, “so whoever is forced (to consume that which is prohibited) by necessity, (and they eat) neither to fulfill one’s desires nor transgress the limits, then there is no sin upon him…” (Surah Baqarah: v. 173). Mufti Shafi Usmani اﷲ رﺣﻤﻪ states regarding the explanation of this verse: “Here, the eating of things forbidden even under a situation of compulsion (idtirar) has not been made lawful as such by the noble Qur'an, instead, the expression used is ﻋﻠﯿﻪ اﺛﻢ ﻻ (there is no sin on him) which means that these things continue to be haram as they are, but the sin of using what is haram has been forgiven because the eater has done so under the compulsion of necessity.” (M’aariful Quran: v. 1, p. 436 [Maktaba-e-Darul-’Uloom]) Furthermore, scholars explicitly mention that it is impermissible to recite bismillah upon haram food (Hashiyah Tahtawi: p. 6 [Qadeemi Kutub Khana]; Raddul Muhtar: v. 9, p. 490 [Maktaba Imdadia]; Fatawa Hindiya: v. 5, p. 416 [DKI]), thus it is prohibited to recite bismillah upon haram meat even if one is compelled to eat it due to fear of losing one’s life (out of extreme hunger).

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Mohammad Ahsan Osmani Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah Darul Ifta Birmingham