"Oh People of Imaan!! Eat of the pure things (Halaal) that We have
provided for you, and be grateful to Allah" - (S. 2 V. 172)
The growing indifference with regards to halaal foods
is indeed disturbing and shocking. How greatly has our Imaan degenerated!
Where are those days gone when a Muslim would rather go hungry than consume
anything Haraam or doubtful? The morbid sight of Muslims heartily enjoying
meals in non-Muslim restaurants and the great increase in the purchase of food
items having dubious "halaal" stamps on them is frightening. One
cannot help but reflect on the profound prophecy of our Beloved Nabi (SAW)
that, "There will come a time upon my Ummat when people will not be
concerned over what they take. It will not matter for them whether it is
Haraam or Halaal".(Bukhari: Nasai).It is further reported that, "When
this time comes, then none of their Duas will be accepted" (Razeen). This
is actually the ploy of the enemies of Islam to paralyse this Ummat by cutting
off their connection with Allah Ta'ala by duping them into consuming Haraam.
The recent upsurge of Haraam food items being marketed as "Halaal" is
a clear indication of this.
The grave nature of this problem and the level of caution that should be
exercised in this regard can be clearly understood from the following Hadith
where Nabi (SAW) said, "It is better for you to consume sand rather than
eating anything Haraam" (Ahmed). It is narrated in another Hadith,
"That flesh which has grown out of Haraam food will not enter Jannah. Hell has
more right to it" (Ahmad: Tirmidhi). A brief perusal of the lives of our
pious predecessors cannot help but fill one with a sense of awe over the
overwhelming extent to which they exercised caution with regard to their food.
They understood the great effect that Halaal food had on spiritual development
and the implications of the warnings sounded out by the Shariah for
carelessness in this regard.
HALAAL SIGNS
The Jamiat has made every effort possible to assist our Muslim brethren in
this regard by drawing up stringent regulations and conducting supervision of
food plants willing to comply with our regulations (refer to August issue of
Al-Jamiat for further elucidation). Contrary to rumours is the fact that this
service is conducted on a completely non-profit basis. What is greatly
disheartening is the number of bogus 'Halaal' signs floating around
and the number of unscrupulous organisations who for the sake of monetary
benefit are compromising the Muslim masses. Many of the applicants who were
turned down by the Jamiat due to not accepting our regulations, applied to
some other organisations and easily obtained certificates. It has been
conclusively proven that some of these organisations do not conduct proper
supervision thus, causing detrimental harm. Of greater concern is the
increasing number of Non-Muslim food outlets displaying Halaal signs. We have
repeatedly warned the Muslim public, but it sadly appears that to a large
extent our warnings are falling on deaf ears.
HALAAL AND YOU
When we reflect over the magnitude of the problems it appears as if we
are caught in a quagmire from which there is no escape. However the problem is
simple, should we get things in the correct perspective. Of utmost importance
is the realisation that the onus is on us to ensure the purity of our food. We
cannot blindly rely upon some 'Halaal' sign or Arabic writing on the
packing of an article. Sweets, canned food, etc. should not be consumed
without at least a brief perusal of the ingredients. When we have doubt over
some item, we should first clarify the matter with the Ulama. Let us realise
that exercising caution is not a burden on ourselves but an act of Ibaadat and
will in fact take us closer to Allah Ta'ala. Hadhrat bin Adham (RA) said, "Whatever
lofty spiritual ranks obtained was by virtue of exercising care in what went
into the stomach". Nabi (SAW) said, 'Abstention from doubtful things
is the best of Deen" (Tabraani: Bazzaar). Very often we will be tested by
Allah Ta'ala: the item which has no doubt in it maybe more expensive as in the
case of the local meat when compared to the imported one, etc. Here our
steadfastness will bring us immense reward from Allah Ta'ala.
We must reiterate our call to our Muslim brothers to be careful. The Jamiat
has been inundated with calls informing us of discrepancies of various
organisations and food outlets having 'Halaal' signs. We beg our
brothers to be careful and in matters of doubt to abstain. We will make every
effort to update material in this matter and will appreciate every assistance
in this regard. However, each individual has to himself become firm and wise.
May Allah Ta'ala give every one of us the Taufeeq. Ameen