Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu.....

Welcome to www.thankgoditshalal.com

 As you surf through this unique and purpose-built web-site, we hope that you will be able to benefit from the views and opinions presented. We hope to be able to develop a community in cyber-space where our Ummah can share useful experiences and knowledge on anything and everything about halal.

Humanity and survival

Besides air and water, food is very important to us humans for our survival. We need food to give us energy to work, study and go on with our daily lives. Especially for us Muslims, the things that we used and the food that we consumed MUST be HALAL. 

 Halal food

The Arabic word "HALAL" means allowed or lawful.  In the Holy Al Quraan, Allah commands Muslims, in fact, all of mankind, to eat only of the halal things.  There are no compromises on this.  Many verses in the Al Quraan and the Hadiths relate to this aspect on halal food.  The following are just some of them: 

1 :

 "O  mankind!  Eat of that which is lawful (halalan) and wholesome (thayyiban) in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy for you." (2:168)  

This simple aspect of eating is so important and vital to mankind that Allah S.W.T. links the act of consuming food that is 'halalan' and 'thayyiban' to that of NOT following the footsteps of the devil. 

Foods being consumed by us are subsequently digested and become a part of us. We are what we eat. Digested and processed food flow into our bloodstreams which go on to distribute vital vitamins, protein and minerals to our mind and body. Thus the main reason that we can only allow halal food and drinks to enter our body, is, as the time comes to present ourselves facing Allah swt at the very least five times a day, we are in a state of “cleanliness” as Allah swt demands it.

As Muslims, when it comes to food and drinks that is to be consumed, there are no compromises. No half-measures at all. From the raw materials and ingredients used to cook the food and even to the extent of the utensils being used…… everything must be compliant to the concept of halal.

One misconception, even by some Muslims is that no pork, no lard or cooked seafood / vegetables are halal and can be consumed by Muslims without any doubts. It is not as simple as that. Questions still need to be asked and Muslims need to be DOUBLY SURE before they put the food in their mouths and digest it.

Questions like:

Are all the ingredients used Halal? For example, our pizzas, besides the main ingredients must comply with being Halal, there are questions still have to be asked:

1. Are the cheese used - halal?
2. Have the utensils used to cook the pizza being used to cook other non-halal food – example haram beef, haram chicken, pork, the use of lard in other dishes, even vegetables dishes? If yes, has it gone through the “sertu” process?  i.e. religious cleansing process using water clay and Islamic prayers.
3. Even if it is seafood or vegetables that do not require the ingredients to be “slaughtered or cleansed” Islamically, is it being cooked in and with non-sertu utensils?
4. Did the food handler washes his hands with water & soap and prays .. “BismillahHirrahmanNirrahim - AllahhummasalliAllaaSaidinaMuhammad”

If we can exercise due diligence when considering say, buying a car, a house, a shirt, a dress and other worldly desires, all the more we should with the basic needs like food.

If we do not get the right answers, we can simply exercise our rights as “Muslims” to stay away from the “doubtful halal food". Even there is a chop and seal certifying that the establishments and their food are “halal”, but we have reason to believe or even suspect that it is tainted by some non-halal ingredients or practices or exposed to non-cleansed utensils (sertu'd), it is best to stay away from the food and establishment in question.

2 :

Our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) once said:

الْحَلاَلُ بَيِّنٌ، وَالْحَرَامُ بَيِّنٌ، وَبَيْنَهُمَا مُشْتَبِهَاتٌ، لاَ يَعْلَمُهَا كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ. فَمَنِ اتَّقَى الشُّبُهَاتِ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ. وَمَنْ وَقَعَ فِي الشُّبُهَاتِ وَقَعَ فِي الْحَرَامِ

“Halal is clear and Haram is clear; in between these two, certain things that are “suspect”. Many people may not know whether these items are Halal or Haram. Whoever leaves them, he is innocent towards his religion and his conscience. He is, therefore, safe. Anyone who gets involved in any of these suspected haram he may fall into the undesirable and the prohibited. This is similar to the one who wished to raise his animals too close to a restricted area, so that the animals may step into that area (and get harmed).

Indeed for every landlord there is a restricted area. Indeed the restriction to Allah is the HARAM”   (Sahih Bukhari & Sahih Muslim)

The equation is very simple. Halal is Halal. Halalfood is Halalfood. Non Halalfood is Not Halalfood. For food that we are not sure of its halalness, simply leave it and do not consume it. Lest we forget, NON HALAL FOOD is, simply put, HARAM. 

3 : Let's make Halal and Halalfood ....HALAL

Are we, Muslims, the Greatest Loser ?

Halal as a commercial advantage

The Holy Prophet once said : “There will come a day when the mukmin will try to hold on to his Deen and it will be like he is holding a hot coal in his hand.”

As Muslims, it is very hard trying to live an Islamic way of life in the absence of a true Islamic state. True, we can have halal foods, mosques, and Muslim weddings; but when it comes to the majority of our economic and daily transactions, we live in this Western dominated world of commerce and way of life. We have to resigned ourselves to the capitalist-slave way of doing these things. Under current conditions, it seem difficult finding Islamic alternatives, at times nearly impossible. But we, as Muslims, must try find ways and means to return to the path that Allah swt intended for us, the Ummah.

Even if each and everyone of us "(Whoever) prays, (even) on waterless, desolate land - an angel prays on his right and an angel prays on his left, when he calls both the adhan and the iqama for the prayer, or calls out the iqama, angels like mountains pray behind him."

When a Muslim consumes the Haram food, it gets into our blood stream and becomes part of our body. Then, and when we say our prayers, will the Angels follow us in our prayers ,

and will Allah swt accept our prayers ??????????????????????????????????????????????

and when we die, will Allah swt accept us as Muslims ??????????????????

Are we, Muslims, the Greatest Loser ?

It makes economic sense!  

To see how we can turn a physical and spiritual need into an economic advantage for the Ummah. The cumulative effect of the money used to buy and support another Muslim in business are enormous. He supports his family, pays the zakat and fitrah, he donates to the building of the mosque, he employs other Muslims to expand his business and they too pay the zakat and fitrah, contributes to the mosque, the orphanage, the poor .........................the lists goes on and on. Above all, you, the consumer will be blessed by Allah swt for supporting another Muslim and his sedekah of at least ONE READING of Al-fatihah when its time for you to answer Allah's call, it is a very very very everlasting blessing.

By the time you log out of this site, we hope that you will be able to understand more about halal, halal food and put to practice what is not just a gastronomic satisfaction but the fact that food that is halalan  & thayibban is of physical, spiritual and even an economical importance to us as Muslims.

In Perspective :

Follow Hj Md Yusof’s journey into the halal food world and share his trials and tribulations which only strengthens his passion and mission to create this web-site for the benefit of all and especially for Muslims.

To know more of Hj Md Yusof’s landmark experiences and undivided passion in matters relating to halal food and the “not so” halal ones, at: My food trials and tribulations.

Thank you for visiting //thankgoditishalal.com.  Feel free to give us your feedback and input.   All feedback, input and constructive criticism will go a long way towards allowing us to keep on improving this web site.

From: The Editor, //thankgoditishalal.com