Halal and Haraam



Fish( Halaal)

 Truly, what is lawful is evident, and what is unlawful is evident, and in between the two are matters which are doubtful which many people do not know. He who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and honour blameless, and he who indulges in doubtful things indulges in fact in unlawful things, just as a shepherd who pastures his flock round a preserve will soon pasture them in it. Beware, every king has a preserve, and the things Allah has declared unlawful are His preserves. Beware; in the body there is a flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart.             [Bukhari & Muslim]

These days that civilization and western way of life as taken over the lives of most of us in this part of the world, the issue of what is Haraam or Halal needs to be discussed to keep our brothers and sisters in Islam on track. We go to eateries and buy a lot of foreign foods without trying to know what the foods are made of. This edition of On Islam Deen Digest discussed briefly the concept of Halal and Haraam.



Non Alcoholic Drinks (Halaal)



What is Halal?   "Halal" is an Arabic word meaning "lawful" or "permissible", and the term not only covers food and drink, but also to all matters of daily life. When it comes to Halal food, most people think of meat foods only. However, Muslims must ensure that all foods, particularly processed foods, pharmaceuticals, and non-food items like cosmetics, are also Halal. Frequently, these products contain animal by-products or other ingredients that are not permissible for Muslims to eat or use on their bodies.

Wikipedia define Halal as a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law.

 The opposite of this word is Haraam.  Halal foods are foods that Muslims are allowed to eat under Islamic dietary guidelines. The criteria specify both what foods are allowed, and how the food must be prepared. The foods addressed are mostly types of meat/animal tissue.

 The following substances are considered as 'Haraam' forbidden as per various Quranic verses:

Pork and Pork-based products and by-products - sausages, gelatin etc –Qur'an 2: 173

Blood and blood by-products -Qur'an 2: 173

Animals slaughtered in the name of anyone but God. All that has been dedicated or offered in sacrifice to an idolatrous altar or saint or a person considered to be "divine"  –Qur'an 2: 173 & Qur'an 5:3

Carrion (carcasses of dead animals)  –Qur'an 2: 173

An animal that has been trangled, beaten (to death),  killed by a fall, gored (to death),  savaged by a beast of prey (unless finished off by a human)  -Qur'an 5:3

Food over which God's name is not pronounced (or at least not in a name other than God) -Qur'an  6:121



Alcoholic Drinks (Haram)



Alcohol- Qur'an 5:90

Most carnivorous animals, birds of prey and land animals withoutexternal ears (i.e., snakes, reptiles, worms, insects etc.)

Foods contaminated with any of the above products

 These verses also have information regarding Halal foods: 2:173, 5:5, and 6:118-119, 121.

 The following products are definitely

 HALAL:

1.            Milk (from cows, sheep, camels, and goats)

2.            Honey

3.            Fish and other sea foods

4.            Plants which are not intoxicant

 5.            Fresh or naturally frozen vegetables

6.            Fresh or dried fruits

7.            Legumes and nuts like peanuts, cashew nuts, hazel nuts, walnuts, etc.

8.            Grains such as wheat, rice, rye,barley, oat, etc.

 Animals such as cows, sheep, goats, deer, moose, chickens, ducks, game birds, etc., are also Halal, but they must be slaughtered according to Islamic Rites in order to be suitable for consumption. The procedure is as follows: the animal must be slaughtered by a Muslim. The animal should be put down on the ground (or held it if it is small) and its throat should be slit with a very sharp knife to make sure that the 3 main blood vessels are cut. While cutting the throat of the animal (without severing it), the person must pronounce the name of Allah or recite a blessing which contains the name of Allah, such as "Bismillah Allah-u-Akbar".

 While many things are clearly Halal or clearly Haraam, there are some things which are not clear. These items are considered questionable or suspect and more information is needed to categorise them as Halal or Haraam. Such items are often referred to as Mashbooh, which means doubtful or questionable. Food falling into this category should be treated as Haraam until you know otherwise.

 Intoxicants:

It should be noted that the Qur'an refers to all intoxicants (not just alcohol) as being Haraam. An intoxicant is, by definition, a substance eaten, drunk or smoked with the sole intention of becoming intoxicated, or a substance created with that purpose in mind. This basically means alcoholic drinks and narcotic drugs.

 Any food which was made with an alcoholic drink (usually wine) is Haraam because, although the food itself probably couldn't get you drunk, its alcoholic ingredient was made for that purpose. In most cases this is obvious - for instance Coq au Vin (chicken in wine) or Beef and Ale Pie. In contrast, some seemingly innocent foods can be made using alcoholic drinks and are therefore Haraam - examples are mince pies and teriyaki sauce. Always check the ingredients label!

 In contrast, alcohol can be found in some Halal foods, such as bread and soy sauce. These sometimes contain minute amounts of alcohol as a result of a natural reaction between certain chemicals during the manufacturing process (as opposed to alcoholic drinks being deliberately added to food to add flavour), and so couldn't be classed as Haraam.



Some medicines and mouthwashes contain alcohol - if you can find a non-alcoholic alternative then use that instead. Medicines containing alcohol would be considered Halal if there were no suitable alternatives available. It should be noted that only ethyl alcohol (such as mentholated spirits and ethanol, the alcohol found in alcoholic drinks) are intoxicating and are therefore Haraam. Other forms of alcohol (such as stearyl) are not intoxicating. These types of alcohol won't be found in any food or drink due to the fact that they are generally poisonous, but it is a point worth bearing in mind when buying household goods containing these. 



Pork meat (Haram)



 Pork By-Products:

This includes ingredients such as gelatin, emulsifiers, fat and enzymes. All of these are Haraam. They also have alternatives that are either Halal or vegetarian that can just as easily be used in their place. Items that can contain these pork-based ingredients

Include:

Jelly / Jell-O desserts

Marshmallows

Jelly / Gum sweets

Lard

Some medicines and supplements (especially Cod Liver Oil) also use gelatin as part of their capsules. It can be permissible to use these, but ONLY if there are no suitable alternatives.

 IS SMOKING HARAM?

The issue of smoking cigarettes is mentioned neither in the Quran nor in sunnah; because when Quran was sent down, there was not anything like cigarettes. Cigarette emerged after 15th century.

There are some general rules in Islam for making a judgment about something which is not mentioned in the main sources of Islam. One of them is “the rule is the permissibility of things”. That is to say; everything is created for human beings and while some things are stated to be Haram, some are not identified as Haram or Halal, and thus they are Halal. Another one is “what is clean and nice is Halal and what is filthy and harmful is Haram”.

 When those two general rules are taken into consideration together, we come up with a conclusion about smoking as follows: as there is nothing stated about smoking in sources, we should determine whether cigarette is filthy and harmful or not. If it has got features which we can describe as filthy and harmful, we should conclude that it is Haram; if it has not got such features, we should conclude that it is Halal.

 Due to this method of deduction, some Islamic scholars in history concluded that smoking cigarettes is Halal/mubah, because they said that they did not observe any harm from cigarettes; therefore, they could not say it was Haram. However, today science has proved that cigarette includes about 2000 kinds of poison, that it is the reason of many diseases, and that it harms not only those who smoke, but also those who are near smokers though they do not smoke themselves. In Nigeria every advert of cigarette end with Federal Ministry of Health warns that smokers are liable to die young, which shows the risk in cigarette smoking in case we see what the scientists say as too far to believe.

 The truth is that one risks his life by smoking. However, Allah says: “Do not risk yourself with your own hands”. For this reason, smoking means risking oneself. Smoking is also a very important personal right; because smokers harm non-smokers and disturb them. Forgiveness of violating a personal right is only possible if the person whose right has been violated forgives the violator. And providing it is very difficult.

 Exception if no Halal is available if there is no other food available, then a Muslim is allowed to eat non-Halal food. Surah 2:173 states: If one is forced because there is no other choice, neither craving nor transgressing, there is no sin on him.