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Carefulness In Eating Halal Foods
Asalamoalaikum,
I live in Canada, where not all the food is Halal. How much caution am I supposed to exercise in ensuring that the food I consume is Halal? For instance, do I have to contact a fast-food restaurant to ensure that the vegetarian food has not been contaminated by meat? And is cross-contamination in of itself something that renders food haram? Furthermore, how thoroughly do I have to examine the ingredients in the food I purchase at the grocery store? It is becoming increasingly challenging to eat food here. Previously, I believed that as long the food does not contain non-halal meat, it is permissible to consume. However, I am now being confronted with ideas like cross-contamination, presence of ingredients such as rennet, monoglycerides, etc. Right now I am doubting whether the vegetarian pizza I just purchased from Pizza Hut was permissible for me to eat. On top of that, it takes quite a long time to confirm with vendors whether their foods contain any impermissible ingredients. JazakAllah.
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7 Replies
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Carefulness In Eating Halal Foods
updated 2 years, 7 months ago
2 Members
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7
Replies
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For contamination, please see:
Discussion 37668 • Reply 37675
One is only required to do possible due diligence in other cases and not knowingly eat what is categorically haram.
Generally in application of principles, there are differences of opinion most of the times. One should do what’s right in their own understanding and not try to impose their opinion on others.
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JazakAllah. But, how do I know that I’ve done ‘possible due diligence’? In other words, how should I define this?
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There can’t be any generic guidance in regards to application of principles since every situation and every person is unique. However, I would like to share with you some golden words reportedly said by Prophet SAW that might help:
“Righteousness is what reassures your soul and your heart, and sin is what wavers in your soul and puts tension in your chest, even if people approve it in their judgments again and again.”
Source: Sunan al-Dārimī 2575
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JazakAllah, I really appreciate it!
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But I guess I do feel at unease whenever I’m not adopting the stricter opinion, even while being convinced of another.
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There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s quite natural that one person might say that he will sincerely abstain from eating haram meat, while a more sensitive person might opt to slaughter his own animals just so that he can be absolutely sure.
As long as both people are sincere in their effort, understand that they will be held accountable for their deeds one day, and do their best given their own nature, knowledge, as well as circumstances, then both attitudes as well as anything in the middle are acceptable. The only thing to be mindful of is that we should not judge others or try to impose our own understanding upon others.
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Perfect. Thank you very much – this is excellent advice! I will try hard to apply it.
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