How Halal Food Items And Restaurants Help Our Muslim Friends
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by: Tristan West
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Word Count: 426
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 Time: 11:33 AM
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A lot of us have encountered the word "halal" on food labels and restaurant establishments, but not all of us know what it really means. Our Muslim bfriends base their selection on this word because it signifies what is permitted for them to purchase or eat. For a country that has citizens with mixed religious groups, that term is just as significant.
Muslims in Islamic states don't have problems eating in halal eateries and picking up halal products as most likely than not, they are halal-certified. But for those who are in countries that have mixed religious groups, halal is not as rampant as they would like. Good thing that more establishments are now becoming conscious of their customer's preferences.
The word halal simply means lawful, which implies that if an eating establishment claims they are halal-certified or a food product has this term on its tag, the preparation of their items is in accordance with the Islamic law. Muslims, therefore, are permitted to use or consume the product.
So what is permitted in Islamic law? There are a number of guidelines, but let's start with how a meat should be prepared. An animal should be butchered by cutting its windpipe and gullet rapidly. This method of ritual slaughter is believed to kill instantaneously and painlessly.
If halal means legal, haraam is the reverse. Muslims are not allowed to take haraam foods, such as intoxicant and pork. A halal-certified restaurant and a halal-approved food item should not contain such ingredients. Also, they should be careful withhow they make the food, avoiding any contamination. If a spoon was already used for a meal with haraam ingredients, it should not be used anymore to make halal-approved food.
Other haraam items include blood, carnivores or birds of prey, animals slaughtered in the name of any other god but Allah or have been consecrated to another idol, and corpse of an animal.
Halal-certified eateries should conform to the Islamic dietary laws. And because some items are difficult to determine whether they are halal or not, there are Muslim groups who certify food products as halal for buyers. Those products with halal certification are used as ingredients by halal restaurants, just to make very sure that they are carefully following the laws.
Today, more and more food establishments not run by Muslims still make great effort to abide Islamic dietary laws. Those restaurants show that they value and respect all their customers, regardless of their religious preferences.
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