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. It is one of five Ahkam—fard (compulsory), mustahabb (recommended), halal (allowed), makruh (disliked), haram (forbidden)—that define the morality of human action in Islam. 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.

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 consumed by Muslims (the Quran forbids it Sura 16:115 ), other foods not in a state of purity are also considered 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 considered halal for Muslims to consume include blood and intoxicants such as alcoholic beverages.

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. 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. 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.

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." The British Veterinary Association, along with citizens who have assembled a petition with 100,000 signatures, have raised concerns regarding a proposed halal abattoir in Wales, in which animals are not to be stunned prior to killing. 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.

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.

Halal food certification

Globally, halal food certification has been criticised by anti-Halal lobby groups and individuals using social media. 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. Australian Federation of Islamic Councils spokesman Keysar Trad told a journalist in July 2014 that this was an attempt to exploit anti-Muslim sentiments.

Meat offered by Christians and Jews

Main articles: Islamic and Jewish dietary laws compared and Christian dietary laws

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).

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.

Kosher meats, which are consumed by Jews, are permitted to be eaten by Sunni Muslims. 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.

Animals

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

See also

• Al-Jamia, Shia text which contains all the details of halal things.
• Beurgeois
• Christian dietary laws
• Dhabīḥah
• DIALREL
• Halal certification in Australia
• Islamic dietary laws           
• Istiḥlāl
• Ital
• Jhatka
• Kashrut (kosher)
• List of foods
• Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura
• Makrūh
• Mubāḥ
• Sattvic diet
• Scottish pork taboo
• Taboo food and drink

Further reading

• Yungman, Limor, "Food", in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol I.

External links

• Laws of Islam concerning food
• Halal Knowledge Centre
• Halal World certificate
• ASIDCOM report. Benefits of Religious Slaughter
• Consumers increasingly perceive kosher and halal food as safer Scientist Live
• Article on Halal and Haram from an Islamic perspective

• (French) Jurisprudence of the Halal food according to the Maliki school (from Sharḥ Muqaddimat al-ʻIzzīyah by Imam al-Ābī al-Azharī)