A lot of us have read the word “halal” on food tags and restaurant establishments, but not all of us know what it really means. Our Muslim brothers and sisters depend their choice on this word because it signifies what is acceptable for them to buy or eat. For a country that has inhabitants with mixed religious affiliations, that word is just as important.
Muslims in Islamic nations don’t have troubles eating in halal restaurants and picking up halal products as most likely than not, they are halal-certified. But for those who are in areas that have mixed religious groups, halal is not as rampant as they would like. Good thing that more establishments are now becoming aware of their customer’s preferences.
Halal means lawful or legal. If a food label has this word on or a eatery alleges they are halal-certified, it means that the preparation of their food is in accordance with the Islamic dietary law, and therefore, they are allowed to consume the items.
Just what are allowed in Islamic law? For meat food items, the mode in which an animal should be slaughtered must be swift. When killing an animal, its windpipe and gullet must be cut and done rapidly.
If halal means lawful, haraam is the reverse. Muslims are not allowed to have haraam products, such as alcoholic beverage and pork. A halal-certified establishment and a halal-approved food item should not contain such ingredients. Also, they should be conscioushow 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 forbidden 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 god, and corpse of an animal.
Halal-certified restaurants should conform to the Islamic dietary laws. And because some items are hard to determine whether they are halal or not, there are Muslim groups who certify food items as halal for buyers. Those products with halal certification are used as ingredients by halal restaurants, just to make very sure that they are strictly observing the laws.
Today, more and more eateries not run by Muslims still make great effort to follow Islamic dietary laws. Those restaurants show that they value and respect all their consumers, regardless of their religious faiths.
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