Halal Foods

Brothers and sisters, Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, May Allah be with you and your family. Ameen.

Praise to Muhammad SAW, the last prophet until the end of the world.

I am sure that we are all concerned about things that come into our mouth and stomach. We are usually picky for food that should be eaten. In accordance to that, as moslems, we should give a special attention to halal food that must be eaten.

As told by Allah SWT in Surah Al Baqarah verse 168-169:

"O ye people! eat of what is on earth, Lawful and good; and do not follow the footsteps of the Evil One, for he is to you an avowed enemy. For he commands you what is evil and shameful, and that ye should say of God that of which ye have no knowledge."

The word 'halal' literally means permissible- and in translation it is usually used as lawful. It is well known in the meat trade that Muslims consume halal meat. However, at times questions are asked, what is halal? In Arabic it simply means permissible or allowed. Opposite to it is haram, which means forbidden or not allowed.

The above Qur'an verses are the statement from Almighty Allah that we should eat halal foods. So, what are halal foods? We can found them in the following verses:

"O ye who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided for you, and be grateful to God, if it is Him ye worship. He hath only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of God. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, -then is he guiltless. For God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." (QS Al Baqarah [2]: 172-173)

As we can see in the above verse, Almighty Allah is ordering us who believe to be selective to what we eat.

• First, the money spent to buy the food has to be halal, not from bad or haram occupation, such as stealing or manipulating someone else.
• Second, before spending the money we have to share our income to those who in need as a form of gratification to Almighty Allah.
• Third, the food should be made of halal meat or poultry.

In order to be safe, it is recommended that we buy meat or poultry in a market that shows halal certification from the authorized department in our country.

Wallahu'alam bishawab..