Halal and Haram

Look at the canned goods in your pantry and check out the Halal seal. It's usually a circular stamp with the Arabic  word حلال (Halal) on it. Don't be surprised when you find one because nowadays, it's easy to spot items on the grocery shelves that are safe for consumption for the Muslims, and many food companies make sure  that their products meet the Halal standards. But what is Halal? 

Halal is an Arabic term that simply means legal or lawful. As Muslims, there are certain types of food that we consider lawful to eat, and as many of you already know, pork is definitely not on the list. That is considered Haram,its counterpart. Halal and Haram are two terms that not only pertain to the Muslim's food classification, but also to other facets of life that are either good or bad.

Like Pork? You can have all the pork you can eat, but I ain't having any

I was once a non-Muslim, and while I did eat pork in the past, I realized that there are other ways that I can enjoy a juicy, delectable piece of meat without being sinful to my Lord and to my own body. Because let's face it, pork eaters are more likely to suffer from poor health than non-pork eaters. So in the end, there is more to gain than to lose with eliminating pork in the diet. And isn't it odd that we call objects or people that are filthy and disgusting as "baboy?" So what does that say about the pork that you put on your mouth then? Hmmm..

What makes a food Halal?

" Forbidden to you for (food) are: dead meat, blood and the flesh of the swine and that which hath been invoked the name other than Allah. "

                           Holy Qur'an 5:4

Quoting our Holy book, Quran, we see the kinds of food that are forbidden or Haram for us to eat. They are:
- animals killed by another animal
- blood (no dinuguan or betamax)
- porky pig (pang figurine collection na lang)
- animals slaughtered without asking for Allah's blessing

Let me be more graphic here to clearly illustrate the last requirement of a Halal meat. In slaughtering the Islamic way, a sharp knife is essential to make a swift, deep incision on the animals throat, jugular vein, cartoid artery and wind pipe, while keeping the spinal cord intact. All these while its head is turned to the Qiblah,or the direction in which we face to pray. 


In my next entries, I will attempt to present some Halal food finds that are conveniently located in our own supermarkets. I'm guessing that most of these will be imported items. Also, I will try and scour the city for good Halal restaurants to those of you who'd like to experience dining the Halal way.