Halal: Do We Even Care?

Assalamualaikum.

I once heard that Coffee Bean® is not halal because they fry their beans in lard (pig fat). I don't know how true was that, if I'm not mistaken coffee beans are roasted, not fried. Nevertheless it did raise doubt in me, and once doubt (was-was or shubhah) has appeared, it is no longer good for me to consume, even if it might be halal.

My doubt was further elevated when I noticed that Coffee Bean never bore the distinctive Malaysian halal symbol.

So too was Pringles®. The product has been a victim of false alert that states that it contains an emulsifier of E471 that is animal based. Since Pringles® is an imported product, it can be deduced that the animal (where the emulsifier came from) was not slaughtered with the name of Allah hence making it not halal. Soon, Pringles® put an description on the ingredients, stating that E471 is in fact of soy lecithin origin.

The thing is, why do they refuse to apply the halal symbol?

I really hate McDonald's®, but they do earn my respect in this context. They proudly display their halal logo in all their publications. I remember a promotion on their beef patties, it is about 100% beef, but on top of the 100% was 100% halal. All their posters and billboards feature the halal logo, considerably large to be visible. Even their TV ads have the halal logo in static at the bottom right corner.

No, I'm not promoting McDonald's®, I never will. But I do think they deserve a praise on their proud proclamation that they have rightfully earned the halal logo, and even if rumours keep on spreading that they actually supply a good portion of their profit to the damned Israel, at least Muslims can have the wicked comfort that their eating food that obeys to the shariah (and that almost all products' profits will go to Israel eventually, so McDonald's® is no exception).

Refusal of big, established products to attain the halal logo really gets on my nerves. Certain companies state that they refuse to apply the halal symbol because their product is already well known and they need not to further strengthen the brand by applying the halal logo.

What bullshit is that? Why would you refuse to enhance the brand power by putting a tiny little symbol that puts no harm to the non-Muslims and further convince the confidence among the Muslims? These companies are running multi-million dollar business, the expenditure for the application of the halal symbol is minuscule to their profits.

Suddenly came to me a thought. Does Burger King® have that halal symbol. It worried me sick. Whopper® is the best burger in the world, and if I find out that Burger King® does not have the halal symbol, it would be really painful for me, but I have to stop eating it. Thankfully, with tears running down my cheek, they do have the logo. Unfortunately it is too small. Not like McDonald's®.

I've been saying that I won't be drinking Coffee Bean's coffees until they manage to get themselves that symbol, but later I started to realize. Wait, there's a hell lot more food companies that still haven't obtained that definitive symbol. And most of them, I really enjoy it.

Cadbury® (especially the imported ones), Famous Amos©, Baskin Robbins™, Sushi King©, Victoria Station™ are to name a few. I even stopped eating Mars® Bounty (a chocolate I dubbed as the best chocolate in the world, even better than Kraft's Daim) when I found out it lacks the halal symbol and it contains emulsifiers that I don't know the origins.

Ok back to the title. We, Muslims, refuse to eat pork and drink wine or beer because it is explicitly stated in the Holy Quran to be forbidden. Dead animals that aren't slaughtered according to shariah is also disqualified from being halal. But why, for this part, we take for granted?

Halal in the eyes of non-Muslims is just like what I've mentioned just now. They understand halal to be pork-free and alcohol-free. They will gladly notify us if their food contains pork. "Sorry, sir, but this is not halal". Unfortunately, it doesn't exactly work the other way round. A statement of "This is halal, sir," from a non-Muslim may actually means, "This food is pork-free (but it may contain animal-based products which are uncertain of the methods of killing)". It would be criminal if a Muslim have a same mindset, too. We ought to know the stuff that make up our flesh and bones.

I'm hypocritical myself. I do eat food that lacks the halal symbol. Only lately I started to become a bit too particular. It is not hard to find halal food in Malaysia, although Malaysian Muslim community is only about 55%, quite a scarce percentage compared to other Islamic nations. Once you step outside Malaysia, only then you'll start to appreciate the halal symbol. In other countries, even in Islamic countries, halal symbol is not a popular label on the product. Even if the product does bear the symbol, it is merely a proclamation by the producers and no quality check was conducted by some Islamic body.

Malaysia has one of the most systematic halal regulations in the world, and we should be proud and more importantly take full advantage of that. Our halal logo is very distinctive with the eight-pronged star inside a circle. At the outer ring, the name of the approver of the halal symbol is displayed. Most products, even to cosmetics and toiletries feature the symbol nowadays.

What if there is no halal symbol? (This is purely my practice, and by no means I am suggesting it to you or say that I practice this because it is backed by some Quranic verse or hadith. If any of you can add some strong dalils here, it would be highly appreciated.) First, I make sure the food seller is a Muslim. I may ask the owner/worker specifically, "Are you a Muslim?" but in most occasions, I don't dare to do so. So I look for signs, such as greeting/replying people with salaam or having Quranic verses on the wall (I will never consider people would fake their religion for the sake of business). Then I may seek a confirmation from the owner that the food sold is halal. I may ask him, but usually I won't, so I'll just have the good perception (husnu zhan) towards the owner that s/he shall supply only halal food to his/her customers.

So what if the criteria fails? It fails if the owner is not a Muslim (hence voiding the halal claim even if the owner does claim the food is halal) or it is admitted that the food is not halal. If the former takes place, then I would simply avoid all meat and alcohol. The remaining menu would still be good, usually. Vegetables, seafood, eggs, milk and its derivatives would still make a decent meal. If I go to India for example, that is the best place for vegetarians. If I go to a Western (literally) restaurant where there is no way I can assure the halalness of the food, I can just go with seafood platter for example, and I can be considerably sure that the vegetables and the dressing does not have animal-based ingredient and the calamari and prawns are deepfried in vegetable oil. The only possible concern is that the oil might have deepfried something else before like chicken.

There's a lot more to write, but long posts do not attract lots of readers. When I blog, there're two types of posts - one where I'm merely expressing myself and hope that people would understand me better by reading it, and another where I am spreading a propaganda to make people think the way I am, agreeing to it and tell other people about it. This post is definitely the latter, and I have a huge hope that this post will reach thousands, maybe millions so that Muslims, and even non-Muslims, would be more aware of this halal agenda and start paying more attention. Halal is a big thing, and it is always a win-win situation. Non-Muslims will never be affected by halal, and for the Muslims it enhances confidence, and for the business it means more customers.

I am very glad on the progress of halal development in Malaysia. I just hope that one day we'll reach a day that any product that do not bear the halal symbol is unacceptable and will definitely flop because everything is halal-certified that when you don't have one, people will start to have serious doubt on the halalness of the product and thus not buying it.

Thanks a lot for spending your precious time reading until this point. Since you've already made it to this spot, I believe that you have your own views yourself, your practice in the quest of halal food and products, I would really appreciate if you would share it here. Any feedbacks and - even more precious - useful dalils from the Holy Quran, hadith and sunnah or fatwa released by a knowledgeable person based on a concrete reasoning is hugely welcomed. And if you happen to work with the halal-certifying agency or know the procedures of awarding the halal certificate, I am really curious to know more. I can be contacted at 012-2269789 or unpronounciable@yahoo.com.

O ye people! Eat of what is on earth, Lawful and good; and do not follow the footsteps of the evil one, for he is to you an avowed enemy.
Al-Baqarah:168

Wassalam.