A lot of us have encountered the word “halal” on food marks and eateries, but not all of us know what it really means. Our Muslim bfriends depend their selection on this term because it signifies what is permitted for them to purchase or eat. For a country that has citizens with mixed religious groups, that word is just as important.
Muslims in Islamic nations don’t have problems eating in halal restaurants and picking up halal items as most likely than not, they are halal-certified. But for those who are in countries that have mixed religious groups, the term is not as rampant as they would like. Good thing that more establishments are now becoming conscious of their customer’s orientations.
The word halal simply means lawful, which implies that if an eating establishment claims they are halal-certified or a food item has this word 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.
Just what are permitted in Islamic law? For meat products, the mode in which an animal should be killed must be swift. When killing an animal, its windpipe and gullet must be cut and done quickly.
If halal means legal, haraam is the opposite. Muslims are not allowed to have haraam products, such as alcohol and pork. A halal-certified restaurant and a halal-approved food item should not include such ingredients. Also, they should be careful withhow they prepare the food, avoiding any contamination. If a spoon was already used for a meal with haraam ingredients, it should not be used anymore to prepare halal-approved products.
Other haraam items include blood, carnivores or birds of prey, animals butchered in the name of any other god but Allah or have been committed to another idol, and corpse of an animal.
There are Muslim groups who declare food products as halal and give halal certification to restaurants. Products that have halal authentication are the ingredients used by halal restaurants to make sure that they observe the Islamic dietary law rigorously.
Today, more and more food establishments not run by Muslims still make great effort to adhere to Islamic dietary laws. Those restaurants show that they value and respect all their clients, regardless of their religious orientations.
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