What is Halal Food?
In order to eat halal food, The animal should be slaughtered the right way, The name of Allah has taken on the meat and the blood has to be drained completely at the time of slaughtering. If these 2 criteria are there then the meat is halal. If we truly want to love Allah then we need to pay attention to 2things
- Eat Halal– Food itself has to be halal.
- Earning that you buy the food– It has to be halal too. E.g. Apple is halal but when the money you purchase this apple with is not halal then it is not halal. The Source of Income is extremely important when it comes to eating halal and tayyib. People could be doing false marketing tactics, cheating the time from the employees. They could be doing personal chores at the office in their working time, could not be doing justice to the job that they are doing. All these things affect the halal part of our income. In other words, paying attention to halal income is just as important as eating halal food.
Income that is visibly not halal– Selling the Liquor you can see it’s not halal. There are some businesses that are halal. E.g. you own a dry cleaning business there’s nothing wrong with that but when you do cheat customers, when you don’t deliver the product the way it is supposed to be or when you cheat on time or when you charge something extra or when you charge some hidden fee or when you do marketing in such a way that you don’t deliver. In other words, paying attention to halal income is just as important as eating halal food. If income is not halal even if you buy zabiha cut chicken it’s not gonna work. It has to be from pure sources. Buying food that is all-natural may cost a lot of money but what the money is for? If a person cannot spend money on eating halal and has enough money to live in a bigger house. Which one makes more sense? Living in a bigger house buying a newer model of the car or Living in a smaller house driving an average car but eating what is right. The priority matters a lot.
Importance of Tayyib Food
Allah(SWT) is addressing those who believe in Allah “Eat from the good that Allah has provided you and be grateful to Allah(SWT)” The person who believes in the Oneness of Allah(SWT) for him will be easier to follow and eat tayyib food. Else, a lot of people live like deaf, dumb and blind they don’t care about halal & haram and if it’s tayyib or not.
What really Tayyib mean?
Halal basically comes under tayyib. Generally, people pay attention to halal and ignore tayyib. Tayyib means
1.It has to be clean
2.It has to be pleasing/palatable
3. It has to be beneficial
4. It has to be favorable/suitable for a person. E.g. If a diabetic person is given a cake it’s not a good idea. The food has to be palatable/likable, something that your heart enjoys, that doesn’t smell bad, that doesn’t look really rotten stuff. Something that appears physically clean. Believers are commanded to eat right because it impacts directly. It is extremely important that we eat clean tangible food and we are grateful for the food that we eat because that food has direct relation.
What we are not supposed to be eating?
Only 4 things are listed- everything is halal unless otherwise stated, What is haram in the eyes of Allah.
- The Dead Animal(Al Maytata)- Animal that has died a natural death before slaughtering. E.g. Electric shock is being given and it dies before you slaughter it, this also comes under maytata. Blood was not allowed to flow out, this is the reason that maytata is not allowed. When the blood flows out, it takes away all the toxins out from the body so the meat becomes halal. Dead animal’s meat is not halal because it is not tayyib. This is why we shouldn’t eat it.
What are Zabiha rules?
- The name of Allah(SWT) must be taken at the time of slaughtering.
- The person has to be Muslim or the people of the book and he says Allah’s name on it and also
- The blood has to be drained out.
2. The Blood- The flowing blood is not halal for you, clotted blood is okay. E.g. Liver even though the liver is a factory of blood making, Prophet(SAW) said “We are allowed to eat 2 dead animals and 2 kinds of blood” in Musnad Ahmad, as for dead meat are fish and locust and 2types of blood that are halal are liver and spleen. The spleen is next to the liver & its job is to filter the blood. So, blood that is in the liver and spleen is something that is not bad for your body.
3. Flesh of swine– The flesh of swine is haram for us, we cannot have that.
4. Called out on the name of other than Allah– It is haram to eat anything which is slaughtered in the name of any other idol. If no name is taken then also its not halal to eat. It must be slaughtered in the name of Allah.
