By Kamran Siddiqui
For Muslims living in Western countries, the issue of halal (permitted) and haraam (forbidden) food has become an essential component of daily life. Buying meat from specific “halal” stores, eating at specific restaurants, reading the ingredient label on almost every packed food item at the grocery store, etc., is a regular routine of Muslim families living in these countries. When one asks any Muslim why you are so particular about food items, he or she will spontaneously reply that Islam has very strict food rules and we are allowed to eat only those food items that are declared “halal” in the Sharia.
The main items that are haraam according to Sharia are (i) already dead animals (ii) blood and blood by-products, (iii) meat of swine and related products and by-products (iv) animals sacrificed in the name of others than Allah (v) alcohol and alcohol based products (vi) permitted animals not slaughtered according to the Sharia procedure (vii) all carnivorous animals including birds of prey (viii) land animals without external ears (e.g. reptiles and insects) (ix) food items contaminated by one or more of the above listed items. Sharia laws have a list of not only halal and haraam food items but they also define items in between them as “Makrooh”. These are the items that are not haraam according to the Sharia laws but strongly recommended not to be eaten. Some of the Makrooh items are prawn, crab, etc.
With the present day advancement of the food science, the list is now extended to next level items that include chemical species, enzyme, proteins and bacteria derived from animal byproducts. Some of the main haraam items at this level are bone phosphate, cochineal/carmine, gelatin, glycerine, L-cysteine, rennet, whey, animal protein, animal enzymes, animal shortening/fat, lard, and the list goes on. Any food item containing any of these items is also declared as haram by Muslim clergy.
When one asks a common Muslim why these items are haraam, the reply is that it is forbidden by Allah and His prophet and it is enough and there is no need to dig any further into details. Some Muslim scholars have tried to provide some medical arguments for a few items such as blood and swine meat but still cannot provide any logical explanation why billions of people eating swine meat for generations have not developed any medical condition that is linked with the swine meat. Further, they have no explanation why carnivorous animals, reptiles and insects and the animal byproducts in the secondary list are haraam. Ask further, how they know about these haraam food items, the reply is that it has been told to us by our parents, or Imam of the mosque or read in a religious article or listen on a TV or radio religious show.
While it has been claimed by Muslim clerics that these food items are forbidden by Allah and His Prophet, Muslim masses take it as an established fact and do not bother to verify the authenticity of this claim. As a Muslim, before accepting it, they must have verified this claim since it is affecting their daily life. So the question is whether all the items that are declared haraam in the Sharia law are indeed the items forbidden by Allah or a big portion of these haraam items is manmade?
Quran in general provides guidelines for various issues, it also provides some bounding limits. There are few issues which are clearly defined/described in the Quran and the issue of haraam/halal food is one of them. Quran describes four types of food as forbidden which are (i) already dead animal, (ii) blood, (iii) meat of Khinzeer (swine) and (iv) any food item dedicated/associated with other than Allah.
O you who believe, eat pleasant things that We have provided you, and thank to Allah if you obey Him. He has forbidden you already dead, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah. Then whoever is driven by necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, there is no sin upon him. Surely Allah is protector and Merciful (2:172-173).
Only four! Allah has forbidden only four types of food. However, to justify their list, Muslim clerics argue that the above mentioned items are the primary items that are forbidden by Allah and there are items that are forbidden according to Hadiths i.e. supposedly forbidden by Prophet Muhammad. However, an important question is, whether the Prophet was allowed to forbid something that is not forbidden by Allah. Quran is very clear about it. It is mentioned explicitly in Quran that Allah has not authorized anyone to declare anything forbidden that Allah has not forbid.
Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah, which He has brought forth for His servants, and good things from food? Say: These are for the believers in the life of this world, purely the Resurrection day. This way We make the verses detailed for people who know (7:32).
God even did not let Prophet Muhammad to forbid something for himself, which He has not forbidden.
O Prophet, why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you? (66:1).
As the above verses clearly shows, Allah has not delegated the authority to anyone to forbid anything that has not been forbidden by Him. In fact, Prophet himself confirmed in Quran, the food items forbidden by Allah, which are the same four listed above.
Say: I do not find in that revealed to me forbidden for an eater to eat, except that is already dead, or blood spilled out, or flesh of swine — for that surely is unclean — or what is a transgression, other than Allah having been invoked on it. But whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely thy sustainer is protector, Merciful (6:145).
There is no ambiguity, no confusion – clear statements about the four food prohibitions set by Allah and confirmed by the Prophet. Other than these prohibitions, nothing is forbidden to eat. However, it does not mean that you are bound to eat everything else. Every person has likes and dislikes for food and who knows this better than God. Hence, He gave us free option to eat that we like among non-forbidden items.
Eat pleasant things that We have provided you, and thank to Allah if you obey Him (2:172).
They ask you, what has been made halal for them. Say, “halal for you are pleasant things (5:4).
This day pleasant things have been made halal, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is halal for you and your food is halal for them (5:5).
Then eat of what Allah has provided for you halal and pleasant. And be grateful for the favor of Allah. He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced, neither desiring nor transgressing – then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (16:114-115).
The last two verses need special attention. Verse (5:5) declares that the food of those people who were given the scripture is halal for you. There is no food specification i.e. any of their food can be eaten except for the four restrictions. Also note that the people of scriptures are all nations that received divine scripture and is not restricted to Jews and Christians. The verse (16:114-115) declares that you can eat whatever food items that Allah has allowed for you, which basically comprised of anything that He has not set as haraam. It is important to note that Allah has not provided any list of halal food items but rather He has provided a list of forbidden or haraam food items, which implies that everything that is not in the haraam list is lawful (halal) to eat.
Quran has also provide details about some conditions related to animals.
Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah, and those killed by choking or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you slaughter, and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience (5:3)
They ask you, what has been made halal for them. Say, “halal for you are pleasant things and what you have trained of hunting animals which you train as Allah has taught you. So eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of Allah upon it, and fear Allah.” Indeed, Allah is swift in account (5:4).
And permitted to you are the grazing livestock, except what is recited to you (22:30).
Allah knew that in earlier religions, priests took the charge to declare permissions and prohibitions in food items and hence, He strictly denounced such act and explicitly stated that anyone who claims to have the authority for food items prohibitions in the name of Allah, is a liar and wrong doer.
He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah. But whoever is driven by necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit – then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, “This is halal and this is haraam” to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed (16:115-116)
Say, “Have you seen what Allah has sent down to you from food provision of which you have made halal and haraam?” Say, “Has Allah permitted you, or do you invent lie about Allah?” (10:59).
Lost are those who slay their children, from folly, without knowledge, and forbid food which Allah hath provided for them, inventing lies against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and heeded no guidance (6:140).
As we have seen in Quranic verses, Allah has clearly described food prohibitions and has not authorized anyone else to decide food prohibitions. This confirms that the four food prohibitions listed in the Quran are final and permanent and no additions and deletions to this list are allowed.
The first three food prohibitions are clear however, the fourth prohibition anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah has some ambiguity. Note that this condition has been manipulated by Muslim clerics to enforce the so-called halal meat. They interpret this condition as “any animal that is slaughtered without Allah’s name, is haram”. They then bring another verse to support their argument,
And do not eat anything upon which the name of Allah has not been mentioned, for indeed, it is grave disobedience (6:121).
They interpret this verse as “do not eat any animal that has been slaughtered without the name of Allah” and use it as a basis to declare all regular meat as haraam since Allah’s name was not mentioned when the animals were slaughtered in regular slaughter houses.
Now analyze this issue in more detail to elucidate the manipulation of Muslim clerics to modify the list of haraam food items to show their authority on defining the haraam and halal food items contrary to what Allah has clearly stated in Quran.
The actual Arabic text for the fourth food prohibition in Quran is,
The word by word translation of this text is “And anything associated or invoked to any other than Allah”. There is no word in the original text that corresponds to the “animal” or “meat”. The condition is for “any” food item regardless of being meat or vegetable or grain. However, Muslim clerics inserted “animal” in the interpretation and declared that this condition is valid for animals. The same issue is with the translation of 6:121. The actual Arabic text for the verse is,
There is no word in the original text that corresponds to the “animal” or “meat”. As mentioned above, the condition is for “any” food item regardless of being meat or vegetable or grain. Similarly, in another verse it is emphasised to eat food items on which Allah’s name has been mentioned.
So eat anything upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned, if you are believers in His verses (6:118).
And why should you not eat anything upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned while He has explained in detail to you what He has forbidden you, excepting that to which you are compelled. And indeed do many lead astray through their inclinations without knowledge (6:119).
Same argument here, in these verses there is no specific mentioning of animal or meat. Pick any standard translation of Quran and you will find the word animal is usually inserted in brackets in the translation of these verses. This is a clear violation of Allah’s instruction not to declare something haraam to eat which Allah has not prescribed. We took the word of Muslim clerics without any verification from Quran. Allah declared four food prohibitions and everything else that you find pleasant to eat is lawful. Any alteration to this list is a lie and a sinful act. However, we Muslims blindly follow clerics’ proclamation and thus supporting the lie they invented against Allah. As per the last part of verse (6:119), following the food restrictions blindly without knowledge may lead us astray.
As we have seen in the above verses, the name of Allah has greatly emphasised on food items and has been set as a strict criterion for halal and haraam. This criterion can be summarized as,
- Eat anything upon which Allah’s name has been mentioned
- Do not eat anything upon which Allah’s name has not been mentioned
- It is forbidden to eat anything that is associated to other than Allah
Thus, the question is what the significance of mentioning Allah name on the food is, and how it could impact us? The chemical composition of the food item and its impact on our physical body remains the same regardless of mentioning Allah’s name. So what psychological impact this act has upon us. Let’s explore this issue.
Allah has declared in Quran that He is the provider of food for every living creature on this planet.
And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its food provision (11:6).
And how many a creature carries not its food provision. Allah provides for it and for you (29:60).
This declaration implies that it is the birthright of every human being to get food provisions similar to all other creatures in the world. All food resources whether they grow in land, roam on land or come from water are provided by Allah. No one owns any of these resources; they were provided to us for sustenance by Allah. How beautifully Allah has described this fact in Quran.
And have you seen that which you sow? Is it you who makes it grow, or are We the grower? If We willed, We could make it debris, and you would remain in wonder (56:63-65).
And have you seen the water that you drink? Is it you who brought it down from the clouds, or is it We who bring it down? If We willed, We could make it bitter, so why are you not grateful? (56:68-70).
Unlike the animal world where each animal basically lives his own life, humans live in a society and are socially and morally bound to fulfill each other’s needs. Hence, they all share rights and responsibilities. Normally, the head of the family is responsible to bring bread and butter to the family. However, it is his responsibility not mercy on the family to feed them. It is the right of his family to be fed. The same is applicable to rich who feed poor needy people. It is the responsibility of rich to feed poor not their mercy and hence, the poor should not feel it a mercy of rich but rather his/her right being a human. Development of a feeling that one is on a mercy of other human being to be fed is the crushing of one’s self esteem and a scar on human dignity. This is against Allah’s fundamental declaration that every human (irrespective of race, color or religion) is equally respectable.
And We have certainly honored the children of Adam (human race) (17:70).
Thus, feeding the dependants and needy is the obligation to fulfill Allah’s delegated responsibility, which is one of the fundamental pillars of human rights.
The primary meaning of the Arabic word , which is commonly interpreted as “name”, is characteristic and quality. One of the qualities or characteristics of Allah’s system is the right of everyone to get food. Thus, calling or mentioning the name of Allah on a food item is the declaration that this food item is provided by Allah and the receiver takes it as a right not mercy.
Hence, based on this discussion, the criterion for halal and haraam food can be explained as follows,
- Whatever food item that you eat (except for dead animal, blood and meat of swine), declare before eating (loudly or in your heart) that this food is provided to me by Allah as my fundamental right and it is not a mercy of others.
- Do not eat any food that you do not declare as Allah’s provision.
- It is forbidden to eat any food that is provided to you with the declaration that it is provided to you because of other persons, as it violates the fundamental human right of sustenance. One should refuse to eat any food that crushes one’s self esteem and dignity.
Allah has set no condition to call Allah’s name when sacrifice an animal. There is no specific “halal” meat. One can eat any regular meat (except the meat of swine). The condition is to declare Allah as the provider, for any food that you eat. Also note that as per Quran, one is permitted to eat any forbidden item to save life (see 2:173; 6:145; 16:115).
As this article shows, Islam has simple and clear food restrictions, which do not create any difficulty for Muslims to eat anywhere. The Muslim clerics have made this simple restriction too complex just to establish their authority. It is up to the reader to decide, which food restriction they like to follow; the one declared by Allah or the one by clergy.
To read in Urdu
حلال و حرام کھانوں کا مسئلہ
♦
2 Comments