Halal

For the 2016 film, see Halal (film).
A halal (حلال) sign at a butcher's shop in Paris, France.

Halāl (Arabic: حلال‎ ḥalāl, "permissible"), also spelled hallal or halaal, is any object or action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term covers and designates not only food and drink but also all matters of daily life.[1] It is one of five الأحكام الخمسة (al-ahkam al-khamsah)—fard (compulsory), mustahabb (recommended), halal (allowed), makruh (disliked), haram (forbidden)—that define the morality of human action in Islam.[2] Mubah is also used to mean "permissible" or "allowed" in Islam.

Generally in Islam, every object and action is considered permissible unless there is a prohibition of it in the Islamic scriptures.[1][3][4]

Food

Main article: Islamic dietary laws
A halal sign in Chinese (清真) at a restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan.

Halal is often used in reference to foods and drinks, i.e. foods that are permissible for Muslims to eat or drink under Islamic Shariʻah (law). The criteria specify both what foods are allowed, and how the food must be prepared. The foods addressed are mostly types of meat and animal tissue. Quranic verses regarding halal foods include: 2:173, 5:5, and 6:118–119, 121.

The most common example of non-halal (or haraam) food is pork (pig meat). While pork is the only meat that cannot be eaten by all Muslims at all (the Quran forbids it[5] Sura 16:115 [6]), foods other than pork can also be haraam. The criteria for non-pork items include their source, the cause of the animal's death, and how it was processed. It also depends on the Muslim's madhab.

Muslims must also ensure that all foods (particularly processed foods), as well as non-food items like cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, are halal. Frequently, these products contain animal by-products or other ingredients that are not permissible for Muslims to eat or use on their bodies.

Other foods that are not halal for Muslims to consume include blood,[7] and intoxicants and alcoholic beverages.[8]

Dhabihah: method of slaughter

Main article: Dhabihah

The food must come from a supplier that uses halal practices. Dhabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة) is the prescribed method of slaughter for all meat sources, excluding fish and other sea-life, per Islamic law. This method of slaughtering animals consists of using a well-sharpened knife to make a swift, deep incision that cuts the front of the throat, the carotid artery, trachea, and jugular veins.[9] The head of an animal that is slaughtered using halal methods is aligned with the qiblah. In addition to the direction, permitted animals should be slaughtered upon utterance of the Islamic prayer 'Bismillah' "in the name of God".

The slaughter must be performed by a Muslim. Blood must be drained from the veins. Carrion (carcasses of dead animals, such as animals who died in the wild) cannot be eaten.[6] Additionally, an animal that has been strangled, beaten (to death), killed by a fall, gored (to death), savaged by a beast of prey (unless finished off by a human), or sacrificed on a stone altar cannot be eaten.[7]

The animal may be stunned prior to having its throat cut. The UK Food Standards Agency figures from 2011 suggest that 84% of cattle, 81% of sheep and 88% of chickens slaughtered for halal meat were stunned before they died. Supermarkets selling halal products also report that all animals are stunned before they are slaughtered. Tesco, for example, says "the only difference between the halal meat it sells and other meat is that it was blessed as it was killed."[10] The British Veterinary Association, along with citizens who have assembled a petition with 100,000[11] signatures, have raised concerns regarding a proposed halal abattoir in Wales, in which animals are not to be stunned prior to killing.[12] Concern about slaughtering, without prior stunning, has resulted in the religious slaughter of animals being banned in Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.[13][14]

Exception if no halal is available

If there is absolutely no other halal food available and the Muslim is forced by necessity, then a Muslim is allowed to eat non-halal food in order to prevent death due to starvation.[6][15]

Halal food certification

Globally, halal food certification has been criticised by anti-Halal lobby groups and individuals using social media.[16] These critics argue that the practice results in added costs, a requirement to officially certify intrinsically-halal foods, leads to consumers subsidising a particular religious belief.[17][18] Australian Federation of Islamic Councils spokesman Keysar Trad told a journalist in July 2014 that this was an attempt to exploit anti-Muslim sentiments.[18]

Meat offered by Christians and Jews

In Sunni Islam, meat slaughtered by Christians and Jews is halal (only if the slaughter is carried out by jugular insurgency and mentioned before slaughter that the purpose is of permissible consumption and the slaughter is carried out following the name of the God {indicating that you are graceful for the God's blessings}), unless explicitly prohibited, like pork. In Surah 5:5 of the Qur'an, it is written: "The food of the People of the Book is lawful for you." Whether this verse refers to any food of the People of the Book is disputed. Thus the lawful food prescribed for the People of the Book is lawful for the Muslims, subject to the express restrictions set up in v. 3 above and reiterated in 6:145 and 16:115, particularly about mentioning Allah's name at the time of slaughter. The word ṭaʻām is the verbal noun of the root ṭaʻama (lit. to eat, to feed) meaning food, including crops, fruits, meat, vegetables, etc. Since the permitted and prohibited food are connected to the manner that an animal's meat is prepared, evidently the word ṭaʻām refers to animals slaughtered by Jews or Christians, provided that during the time of slaughter Allah's name is invoked (6:121). The requirement to invoke Allah's name is a must. In other words, the word ṭaʻām refers to dhabīḥah meat; i.e., the meat prepared after the slaughter of an animal by cutting the throat (i.e., the jugular vein, the carotid arteries, and the trachea) and during slaughter Allâh's name is invoked (Ibn ʻAbbās, Mujāhid, ʻIkrimah‍—‌all quoted by Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr).[19]

According to some scholars from the Muslim world this verse speaks about the Christians of Muhammad's time and say that Christian methods of slaughter and consumption have changed over time as the diet played lesser importance in the daily practice of Christians. They also point to Deuteronomy, chapter 14, verse 8, in the Bible, which says "Thou shall not eat of the swine nor shall you touch its dead carcasses." Pork and pork related products, which are forbidden in Islam, are consumed by Christians (with the exception of the official teachings of The Seventh-day Adventist Church which also teaches Scriptural dietary instruction), and used widely in food and food products.

According to Islamic scholar Abū Bakr Muhammad Ibn al-'Arabī, because "Christians are Scripturists, God grants them a greater degree of respect than others who revere multiple divine beings; that respect is expressed through the permission of Christian meat", and therefore proclaimed:

I have been asked regarding the Christian who twists the neck of a chicken and then cooks it‍—‌may it be eaten with him or may one take it from him for food? ... I say: It may eaten, because this is his food and the food of his learned and pious authorities, even though this is not proper slaughter according to us. Nevertheless, God, exalted be He, permitted their food without restriction. Everything which they regard as permitted in their religion is permitted for us according to our religion, except for what God, praised be He, has shown to be their lies.[20][21]

Kosher meats, which are consumed by Jews, are permitted to be eaten by Sunni Muslims.[22] This is due to the similarity between both methods of slaughter and the similar principles of kosher meat which are still observed by the observant Jews today.[23][24]

Animals

Generally, killing animals in Islam is only permissible for two main reasons, to be eaten[25] and to eliminate a danger, e.g. a rabid dog.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Quran 7:157
  2. ↑ Adamec, Ludwig (2009). Historical Dictionary of Islam, 2nd Edition. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 102. ISBN 9780810861619.
  3. ↑ Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1726, Book:24, Hadith:7
  4. ↑ Quran 6:119
  5. ↑ "Pork (لَحم الخنزير) From the Quranic Arabic Corpus - Ontology of Quranic Concepts". Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Surah Al-Baqarah - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم".
  7. 1 2 Quran 5:3
  8. ↑ Quran 5:90
  9. ↑ http://halalcertification.ie/halal/islamic-method-of-slaughtering/
  10. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27324224
  11. ↑ Wilkinson, Ben (30 January 2015). "Millions more animals are slaughtered for halal food: Numbers rise 60 per cent amid calls for them to be stunned before death". Daily Mail. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Rahman, Khaleda (25 January 2015). "Fury over plans to use taxpayers' money to fund halal abattoir that refuses to stun its animals before killing them". Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  13. ↑ Sekularac, Ivana (28 June 2011). "Dutch vote to ban religious slaughter of animals". Reuters. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Comment: Danish halal, kosher ban leaves religious groups with nowhere to turn". Special Broadcasting Service. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Maqsood, Rubaiyat Waris (2004). Islam. Teach Yourself World Faiths. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-340-60901-9.
  16. ↑ Hansen, Damien (7 March 2012). "Halal Certification Stamp - Today Tonight (Australia)". Today Tonight. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  17. ↑ Johnson, Chris (28 December 2014). "Why halal certification is in turmoil". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  18. 1 2 Masanauskas, John (18 July 2014). "Halal food outrage from anti-Islam critics". Herald Sun. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  19. ↑ http://halalcertification.ie/halal/islamic-method-of-slaughtering/
  20. ↑ Freidenreich, David M. (2 July 2011). Foreigners and Their Food: Constructing Otherness in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Law. University of California Press. p. 201. ISBN 9780520253216. The most strident argument for permitting meat over which a Christian has invoked Christ is articulated by Abū Bakr Muḥammad Ibn al-'Arabī (d. 1148, a Mālikī of no relation to the famous Sufi known by the same patronymic). In the course of taking Sunni insistence of the permissibly of Christian meat to its logical extreme, Ibn al-'Arabī expresses most clearly the logic that underlies this stance. "God praised be He, permitted their food even though He knew that they invoke a name other than God's over their slaughter. Nevertheless, greater respect is accorded to them than to idolaters because they adhere to God's Book and cling to the coattails of prophets." Because Christians are Scripturists, God grants them a greater degree of respect than others who revere multiple divine beings; that respect is expressed through the permission of Christian meat. Ibn al-'Arabi proceeds to offer what he calls "an original statement" on this matter.
  21. ↑ Freidenreich, David M. (2 July 2011). Foreigners and Their Food: Constructing Otherness in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Law. University of California Press. p. 201. ISBN 9780520253216.
  22. ↑ "Lawful Foods". Just Islam. Retrieved 2 May 2014. Now in the case of Jews this is very easy. As long as the Jew is a practising Jew and the meat is slaughtered in accordance with Jewish law (Torat Moshe) then this meat and other Kosher food is lawful ( Halal) and can be eaten by Muslims.
  23. ↑ "Islamic ruling on Christian food". islamqa. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  24. ↑ "What Muslims can eat" (PDF). Kalamullah. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  25. ↑ Sunan an-Nasa'i 4349, Book:42, Hadith:87;Quran (40:79)
  26. ↑ Sahih al-Bukhari 3314, Book:59, Hadith:120

Further reading

External links

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