Ah, Halal food. You've probably heard of it. Maybe you were in New York and saw the word brazened across one of the many street food carts in the city. Perhaps you've visited a South Asian or Middle Eastern restaurant and had a taste of their mouth-watering cuisine yourself (South Asian food is superior btw). Or maybe you're friends with a Muslim and were told that's the only type of food they're allowed to eat - that alcohol and pork is completely off the table (no pun intended).
There's also a chance that maybe, you live under a rock and never actually heard the term before. Or perhaps you did, but only through social media under the hashtags #banhalal or #banIslam, like from this fine gentleman over here.
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And let's not forget about this guy, the lead singer of a band called The Smiths, who more recently made the comment that halal food can only be certified by "supporters of ISIS" and should therefore be banned. Would definitely want to be friends with him!
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We do love some intolerant, uneducated men, now don't we? (come on now, don't lie to yourself!)
Alright, all jokes aside - it's quite obvious that there is a lot of misinformation out there about what exactly halal food is, and whether we should truly support such a lifestyle or not. So I'm here to set the record straight and (hopefully) answer all your questions and misconceptions for you!
So what exactly is Halal food? What are the conditions for food to be certified halal? Is it really the "barbaric" process that many people make it out to be?
According to the Islamic Council of Victoria (Australia), meat is considered halal if:
- the animal was well-treated before the slaughter (it was properly fed, free from any physical abuse by the human, etc)
-the animal was cleaned before slaughtering - it shouldn't be covered in dirt or feces, or infected with any sort of disease. (and if you've seen the video from the last chapter, you know where I'm coming from 🤢)
-the animal did not see other animals being slaughtered
-the knife was not sharpened in the animal's presence.
