Halal and Haram Foods

   One of the areas where Sharia Laws, which is mostly derived from hadith and tradition, clearly differ from Quran is the definition of Halal foods particularly with regards to the way animals are killed for their meat.   The following is a list of related Quranic verses (as far as I have found) with their English translation.  I have not included the original Arabic words for brevity.

                                                              بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

2:173

"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine (pig), and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

5:3

"Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah , and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. But whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

5:4 

"They ask you, [O Muhammad], what has been made lawful for them. Say, "Lawful for you are [all] good foods and [game caught by] what you have trained of hunting animals which you train as Allah has taught you. So eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of Allah upon it, and fear Allah ." Indeed, Allah is swift in account."

5:5

"This day [all] good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them. And [lawful in marriage are] chaste women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you, when you have given them their due compensation, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse or taking [secret] lovers. And whoever denies the faith - his work has become worthless, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers."

5:96

"Lawful to you is gain from the sea and its food as provision for you and the travelers, but forbidden to you is gain from the land as long as you are in the state of ihram. And fear Allah to whom you will be gathered."

6-118

"So eat of that [meat] upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned, if you are believers in His verses."

6-119

"And why should you not eat of that upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned while He has explained in detail to you what He has forbidden you, excepting that to which you are compelled. And indeed do many lead [others] astray through their [own] inclinations without knowledge. Indeed, your Lord - He is most knowing of the transgressors."

6-121

"And do not eat of that upon which the name of Allah has not been mentioned, for indeed, it is grave disobedience. And indeed do the devils inspire their allies [among men] to dispute with you. And if you were to obey them, indeed, you would be associators [of others with Him]."

6-142

"And of the grazing livestock are carriers [of burdens] and those [too] small. Eat of what Allah has provided for you and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy."

6-145

"Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful."

16:115

"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit] - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

   صدق الله العلي العظيم

Translations are quoted from www.Quran.com

 

      I often find it hard to write an interpretation for verses of Quran because it feels to me as if I am trying to shine candle light on something which is already under dazzling sun light.  Our explanation seem to be like the fainting lights of a candle in the sun shine of God's words. Sometimes, it appears that God is too evident and too apparent to be conscious of, in the sense that water is invisible for a fish or similarly perhaps air to us. We only become aware of them by experiencing their absence. That is to say, we appreciate daylight by night so does a fish appreciate water by going out of it. Could this be true about our freedom to sin against God too? Could this be the reason for God to let the Satan deviates from his instruction in the first place?  I believe it could. 

 

    Back to the definition of Halal food, it has been clearly specified in the first verse above (2:173) that "HARAM" includes dead animals, blood, pork as well as any animal that has been killed as a sacrifice for other than God. In other words, only if any animal is slaughtered in dedication to (or in the name of ) anybody or anything other than God, then it is "Haram", otherwise, it is not.   More interestingly, the very same details and explanation has been repeated in a number of other verses including 16:115 which is the last one in Quran concerning this matter. 

    From this verse we can solidly deduct that if at the slaughter of an animal no name is mentioned and it is not a sacrifice dedicated to other than God, its meat is "HALAL" as clarified in quite a few places to avoid any misunderstanding. On the other hand, in verse 6-119 it is emphasized that the opposite is not true.  That is, if God is named at slaughter that food is absolutely "Halal". 

      Going through later verses above, one may argue that 6-121 evidences quite the contrary: "And do not eat of that upon which the name of Allah has not been mentioned,.... .  It is said that one of the miracles of Quran is that the apparently conflicting verses are clarified by another verse.  In this case, verse 5:4 may be a proof to such supernatural aspect of this holy scripture.  

  

     While the verse 6-121 may seem contradictory to the content of a number of other verses at first glance, verse no. 5:4 leads us to understand that "naming God" is imperative for eating not for slaughtering animals.  That is to say, 5-4 states that a catch of trained hunting animals are "Halal when you neme God upon it prior to eating.  The fact of the matter is in case of a bird or a dog being the trained hunting animal for example, the actual hunting  may happen out of our sight and far from the point of release of the hunter.  Therefore, it is not realistic to read the requirement of  calling "God's name" to be at the moment of the catch's death until later on when we are about to eat it.  Consequently, this situation clarifies that the instruction of not eating anything unless God's name is called upon them ,in fact, refers to the time of eating not at the time of slaughter.   As a matter of fact, naming God before eating happens to be a common practice among all the religions with a holy scripture from God, who are referred to as "Ahle Kitab" in Quran.   

      I would also like to highlight the message of verse 5:5 which explicitly states that food of "Ahle Kitab"' is "HALAL" so is muslims' food for them.  That is, food of Christians, Jews and of people of of other faiths who have been given a book by God are absolutely "Halal" based on the clear content of this verse. 

     Finally, not only this understanding of "Halal" and "Haram" meat seems consistent with all the related Quranic verses but it also enables us to socialize with people of all other religions particularly with "Ahle Kitab" in terms of eating their food and inviting them to ours with the exception of pork and alcohol.   In other words, such interpretation, makes living with people of all faith in a community practical and enjoyable.   

     What this conclusion implies is the fundamental fact that the content of Quran seems applicable universally for all times whereas the traditional read of Islam may not.  This fact will become more and more evident as we go through Quran. 

        

How Long Should We Fast?

    There are cities in the world where day length is unusually long in summer time. Cities located in the northern areas of Scandinavian countries including Sweden and Norway have a day lenght of about 22-24  hours at this time of the year.  There are many more towns with lower latitude where daytime length ranges from 18 to 20 hours while in southern hampshire day time may be unusually short simultaneously.  

    If we happen to live in an area with very long hot days of summer and we find it unbearable to keep our fast so long what can we do to feel we have submitted to God's instructions on one  hand, and at the same time avoiding inflicting on ourselves an unreasonable hardship, on the other hand.   The followings are the Quranic verses about fasting.

   



2:183

"O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous "


2:184

"a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew."


2:185

"The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful."


2:187

"It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allah , so do not approach them. Thus does Allah make clear His ordinances to the people that they may become righteous."

                                                                   صدق الله العلي العظيم

   As far as the duration of fasting is concerned the last verse above determines the start time with exact details that is when  "the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]."

Conversely, the precise time to end the fast is not stated: "Then complete the fast until the sunset."  Interestingly, sunset is not defined as precisely as the dawn time is.  I strongly believe God's use of words has profound philosophy behind it and the words have been miraculously chosen to serve a purpose throughout Quran. It then follows that since God has not purposefully specified a distinguishable ending to the fast time, it has to be meant as a flexible ending.   

   That said, there are three main reasons which could lead us to believe God has intended  an adjustable ending time for Ramadan fast, varying based on location and personal circumstances. Namely: 

• Wordings of verse 187 is not providing an explicit universal distinction for the beginning of night in contrast with the start time. 
• It is almost impossible for most people to keep their fast for any length of time above 18 hours and then repeat it for a period of 30 consecutive days.  This will be conflicting with the prior verse 185 at the end of which it reads: "Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful."  It would be an unrealistic expectation not to mention being against the earlier words of God.  In other words, it is important to fast in a way that we can complete the specified number of days, as implied in verse 185.  
• There is already a difference of about 20-30 minutes in breaking the Ramadan fast existing among the two major denominations of Islam. This proves sunset can be inferred legitimately different by believers.   

   Considering the above, if we are to choose between fasting wholeheartedly and neglecting Ramadan fast all together, I believe it would be an act purely out of God's love (="Taghva" ) to fast at a reduced length of time.   

     Last but not least, one may ask if we can define an standard way to shorten the long days to a length of time which would be universally applicable and verifiable.   One solution, as I learned, could be to end our fast based on the sunset time of Mecca.  This makes perfect sense.  I would like to conclude that perhaps Mecca timing should be the maximum hours of Ramadan fast worldwide unless one wants to keep his/hers longer voluntarily.