Halal Meat International Pty Ltd

Islam is not a mere religion. It is a way of life with rules and manners governing every facet of life. Since food is an important part of daily life, food laws carry a special significance.

Muslims are expected to eat for survival, to maintain good health and not to live for eating. In Islam, eating is considered to be a matter of worship of God like prayer, fasting, charitable donations and other religious activities.

A Muslim eats to maintain a strong and healthy physique in order to be able to contribute his knowledge and effort for the welfare of the society. Muslims are supposed to make an effort to obtain the best quality nutritionally.

It is mentioned in a Hadith that the prayer of a person is rejected by Allah (SWT) if his food is haram. Another Hadith states that hell-fire is more deserving of the flesh which has been nourished with haram.

Australia is a multicultural and multi-religious country. The problem of Halal-Haram with respect to food thus becomes an issue because some non-Muslims may not understand the problems and sensitivities of the Muslims.

This is compounded by the fact that Australian manufacturers are either unaware of Muslims requirements or choose to ignore them as insignificant.

It is therefore in this situation that the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils is endeavoring to establish the highest standards in the sanctioning of foods as Halal.

1. HALAL

In general every food is considered lawful in Islam unless it is specially prohibited by the Qu'ran or the Hadith. By official definition, Halal foods are those that are:

Free from any component that Muslims are prohibited from consuming according to Islamic law.

Processed, made, produced, manufactured and/or stored using utensils, equipment and/or machinery that has been cleansed according to Islamic law.

Free from contamination while prepared or processed with anything considered Najis (filthy).

According to the current Islamic thinking, the following are considered Najis and therefore Haram (unlawful, prohibited):

Swine including all by-products.
Insects considered ugly or filthy such as worms, lice, flies, etc.
Animals with fangs such as tigers, lions, cats etc.
Birds that have talons with which they catch their prey such as owls, eagles, etc.
Animals which Islam encourages to kill such as scorpions, centipedes, rats etc.
Dogs
Animals which Islam forbids to kill such as bees etc.
Animals which have toxins, poisons or produce ill effects when eaten such as some fish etc.
Amphibian animals such as crocodiles, turtles, frogs etc.
Meat (limbs, tails etc.) which have been cut from a live animal.
Lawful animals not slaughtered according to Islamic rites. (Fish is exempt from slaughtering).
Carrion or dead animals.

3. Plant and their products:

(a) Poisonous Plant

(b) Intoxicating Plant

4. Liquids and their products:
(a) Poisonous drinks
(b) Intoxicating drinks

5. Other matters and their products:

(a) Faeces and urine
(b) Placental tissue
(c) Blood

6. Halal Sources:

Products made from the following substances are Halal unless containing or come into contact with a Haram substance.

All plant and their products

Certified Halal meat, poultry, game birds and animals.

All water creatures, fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

Egg from acceptable birds only.

Rennet from certified Halal slaughtered calves

Non animal rennet (NAR, culture)

Gelatine produced from certified beef skins and/or bones.

Animal ingredients certified Halal

7. Halal Slaughter:
The conditions required for Halal slaughter of animals and birds are:

The abattoirs or factory must be under the close and constant supervision of a religious organisation, namely AFIC.
The premises, machinery and equipment must be classed according to Islamic Shariah (law) before any production takes place.
The slaughterman must be a mature, pious Muslim of sound mind who understands fully the fundamentals and conditions relating to Halal slaughter and be approved by the religious authorities.
Only acceptable live animals and birds can be slaughtered.
The slaughter must be done manually using a steel knife.
Facilities must be available for rinsing the knife after each kill.
The slaughterman must sever the respiratory tract, oesophagus and the jugular vein.
The animal must be completely dead before skinning can take place.

HALAL CONCEPT

Within the Islamic religion, a strong emphasis is placed on cleanliness - both spiritually and in the context of food and drink.

For a food or drink product to be approved for consumption it must conform to the Islamic dietary laws as specified in the Qur'an, the Hadith (sayings) of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his Sunnah (tradition) and in the Fiqh (understanding) of the Islamic Jurists: Hanafi, Shafi', Maliki and Hambali.

The Qur'an has numerous injunctions instructing Muslims to choose and consume good and wholesome foodstuffs. In the selection of food and drink, Islam has laid down three very important guidelines, namely:

Whether the consumption of the foodstuff is prohibited by Allah;

Whether the foodstuff is obtained through Halal or Haram means, and;

Whether or not the material is harmful to health.

2. To safeguard the Islamic mentality
3. To preserve life
4. To safeguard property
5. To safeguard future generations
6. To maintain self-respect and integrity.

Islam encourages its followers to choose Halal foods. This awareness is always propagated in Muslim societies and is strengthened by the widespread knowledge extolling the virtues of consuming clean and Halal foods.

Due to advancements in food technology and distribution, Muslims are more exposed to various ingredients and manufactured foods imported into Muslim countries.

The most common of these are food additives, gelatine, emulsifiers and rennet in cheese manufacture. The Muslim community would like to know whether or not the addition, the ingredients or the finished foods contain any Haram substance.

These products can become Halal if the raw materials are Halal and the process is compatible with the Islamic way.

To determine the Halal-Haram status of foodstuffs and other material, Islam has laid general guidelines on this matter, namely:

1. All raw materials and ingredients used must be Halal.

2. Naturally Halal animals such as cattle, goats etc., must be slaughtered according to Islamic rites, the rituals specify that the act must be performed by a mentally sound Muslim, to sever the blood and respiratory channels of the animal, using a sharp cutting tool such as knife.

3. The Halal ingredients must not be mixed, or come into contact with haram materials such as products from pig or dog during storage, transport, cooking, serving etc.

It must be understood that the production of Halal food is not only beneficial to Muslims, but also to food producers, by means of increased market acceptance of their products.

Manufacturers and exporters of Halal products can receive Halal certification for their products from AFIC.

MODERN PRODUCTS

In the modern processing of food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products we cannot escape from the issue of food ingredients which originates from animals, especially additives and many of these are imported.

The ingredients are made from various sources, including Haram sources as well. The products from animal sources which may pose problems are given below:

1. Fresh Meat

There are many types of animals available and these may or may not be slaughtered according to the Islamic law. Some of these animals include chicken, duck, turkey, quail, cattle, goat, sheep, rabbit, venison.

2. Meat Products

Another important group of meat products are those using a mixture of pork and non pork raw material.

These include luncheon meat, salamis, various types of sausages etc. In these products pork fat is used instead of beef fat.

Of course these products are also available in a form which no pork or lard is added as in kosher salami and beef frankfurter's.

There are also available chicken and turkey roll. If these products contain pork or pork products and are not made from Halal slaughtered animals Muslims will not purchase them.

3. Offal Products

Example of these include liver, lungs, heart, intestines, tripe, brains and blood. Besides direct consumption, some of these can also be processed into value-added products.

Intestines in their wet or dry form can be used as casings for various types of sausages. All these must be from animals slaughtered in a Halal manner otherwise the whole product will not be acceptable.

Blood on the other hand is never acceptable under any circumstance.

4. Bone and Hide Products

Gelatine which is used in many food preparations is another important animal product. The main sources are skin and bones.

The production from skin basically involves an extraction process of several stages with increasing temperatures, filtration and concentration in a vacuum evaporator.

On the other hand production from bones would involve the removal of fat, demineralisation and extraction with dilute alkali.

Besides being a source of gelatine, bones when converted into bone meal and purified, is used as a natural source of calcium and phosphorus which can be used in paediatric food.

The hides of the cattle can be processed into edible crackers, while chicken and pig skin can be emulsified to be used as ingredients in the production of emulsion type sausages.

Again if the bones and hides are not from the slaughtered animals these products can not be accepted. Pork and all pig products are prohibited.

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