Halal: states that the food or the products are permissible for the followers of Islam and no haram product or procedure is used while its manufacturing or processing.
It’s certificate is a document that guarantees that products and services aimed at the Muslim population meet the requirements of Islamic law and therefore are suitable for consumption in both Muslim-majority countries and in Western countries where there are significant population group who practice Islam (France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain). To Get certificate is a process which ensures the features and quality of the products according to the rules established by the Islamic Council that allow the use of the mark Halal. It is mainly applied to meat products and other food products such as milk, canned food and additives. Specifically, for meat products Halal certifies that the animals were slaughtered in a single cut, thoroughly bled, and their meat have not been in contact with animals slaughtered otherwise and, especially, with pork. Products that are Halal certified are often marked with a Halal symbol, or simply the letter M (as the letter K is used to identify kosher products for Jewish population). See also Kosher certificate. Model of Halal Certificate.
What you gain from getting Certificate?
In Arabic, the word halal means permitted or lawful. Halal foods are foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines. According to these guidelines gathered from the Qu’ran, Muslim followers cannot consume the following:
- pork or pork by products
- animals that were dead prior to slaughtering
- animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered in the name of Allah
- blood and blood by products
- alcohol
- carnivorous animals
- birds of prey
- land animals without external ears
These prohibited foods and ingredients are called haram, meaning forbidden in Arabic.
Why you need Certificate?
The primary reason for getting the certificate is to serve the national and international Muslim communities in meeting their religious compliance. It’s concept applies to a wide range of goods and services used in a Muslim’s daily life. Muslim consumers choose products because it is in compliance with the process and procedure as defined by Islamic Law (Sharia). Industry and producers of goods and services are often not aware of these requirements. Subsequently, they overlook the needs of this segment of our population. USA Halal Chamber of Commerce, Inc, promotes unified Standards of acceptance and certification. A unified standard bridges the gap between Muslim consumers and the industry. It establishes credibility and assures the Muslim consumer of strict compliance to the certificate process.
- Purity and cleanliness of the sources from which products are derived and the process by which they are made.
- Safety of human lives by consuming only that which is wholesome and healthy
- Integrity and ethical way of life by avoiding cruelty to animals, harm to the environment and unfair business practices.
- In other words, Getting this certificate is a way of life that benefits an individual in their physical and spiritual wellbeing.
- The certificate is for everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Muslim or not – It is the ultimate stamp of purity and safety guaranteeing superior quality products .
Arabic Definitions
- Halal: Means permissible in the Arabic language. Lawful or permitted as indicated in the Qur’an and teachings of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).
- Auditor, Inspector, Supervisor: These terms are used here Interchangeably
- Food: Food permitted according to the Sharia (Islamic Law)
- Haram: – Anything considered unlawful as indicated in the Qur’an, teachings of the Prophet Muhammed (PBU}-I), or as ruled upon by the major Madhhabs; opposite of Halal. Forbidden, including the categories of:
- Carrion or dead (unslaughtered carcasses)
- Flowing Blood
- Swine
- Intoxicants including Alcohol
- Makrooh: Disliked, detested or discouraged
- Mashbooh: Suspect, in doubt or questionable
- Mathhab: School of thought in Islam. School of Islamic legal thought.
- Najs: Filth, including things that are themselves not permissible such as pigs and its derivatives, blood and carrion; fluids or objects discharged from the human or animals’ bodies such as urine, excrements, blood, vomit and pus.
- Tasmiya & Takbir: Bismillah Allahu Akbar, which means by the name of God, the Greatest. Tasmiyyah – The process of pronouncing the name of Allah while performing Dhabihah one must say “Bismillah Allahu Akbar” which means “In the Name of Allah, Allah is Great”
- Dhabiha: Dhabiha in Arabic which means slaughtered with a sharp instrument. An exact and clearly defined method of killing an animal (slaughter) making the meat fit for Muslim consumption.
- Dhabih – The person who performs Dhabihah slaughterer
- Hadith – A verified saying or teaching of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).
- Shari’ah – Islamic Law
What are Halal and Haram?
IT’s an Arabic term which means ‘permissible or lawful’. The term is related to Islam and its dietary laws an is specifically related to meat processed and prepared as per the requirements of the laws.
On the other hand, Haram is an Arabic term which means ‘prohibited or forbidden’. As per the Quran, there are several products which are haram for the followers of Islam. These are– Alcohol, dead animal before its slaughter, blood and its by-products, pork and stunned meat (without halal process).
What does Halal law states?
Halal practices mentioned in the Quran are as follows:
1- Only a Muslim man can slaughter the animal. In many texts, it is also mentioned that if Jews and Christians slaughter the animals following the rest of the steps (procedure), the meat is halal as per the Islamic dietary laws.
2- The animal must be slaughtered with the help of a sharp knife with a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe.
3- The Quranic verse must be read while slaughtering the animal and is known as Tasmiya or Shahada.
4- At the time of slaughter, the animal must be alive and healthy. The maximum amount of blood must be drained from the veins of the carcass.
5- Consuming meat of an animal which is already dead or other than the halal process is prohibited in Islam.
HALAL Certificate
In many Islamic countries, halal certification is given by the government. In India, FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) certification can be seen on almost all the processed foods but this authority doesn’t give halal certification in India. Halal certification is given by many private companies in India which marks the food or products permissible for the followers of Islam. Important halal certification companies in India are:
1- Halal India Private Limited.
2- Halal Certification Services India Private Limited.
3- Jamiat Ulama-E-Maharashtra- A state unit of Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind.
4- Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust.
Why cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are halal certified?
Cosmetics and pharmaceuticals need halal certification as these companies use animal by-products. For instance, alcohol is present in perfumes, pig fat is present in lipsticks and lip balms, cosmetic products use by-products of pigs, chickens, goats, etc. and these are termed as haram as per the Islamic laws. Therefore, the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals which are halal certified simply mean that they do not contain anything which is prohibited for the followers of Islam.
Why companies get their products certified?
Companies are getting their products halal certified so that their products can be exported to Islamic countries. It must be noted that the followers of Islam constitute 1.8 billion population of the world, i.e., 24.1% of the world’s population. In addition to this, only halal-certified foods are allowed in many Islamic countries.
As per several reports, the halal food market constitutes about 19% of the global food market. Thus, to serve the larger markets, to meet the demand and supply chain, many companies are getting their products halal certified.
From halal foods to cosmetics, another term is ‘Halal Tourism’. In this, the hotels and restaurants do not serve alcohol and only halal-certified food is served in their restaurants. In many hotels, spa and swimming pool facilities are separate for both men and women.
What issues have risen with halal certification?
1- The cost of the products which are halal certified increases as the certification process is not free of cost. Also, to get a halal certification, several modifications need to be made in the making process.
2- In several sectors, employment opportunities to non-Muslims are unavailable– Halal Slaughterhouse.
3- Halal certification is a discriminatory process towards the non-muslims especially in the halal meat industry.
4- There’s no standard halal certification process to date. This means halal-certified products from one country may not be recognised in the other country. For Example, halal certification of India is invalid in UAE.
It is interesting to note that the certified foods or products are not prohibited for other communities. Anyone following any faith can consume halal-certified food and products.
HALAL In the Quran
The words halal and haram are the usual terms used in the Quran to designate the categories of lawful or allowed and unlawful or forbidden. In the Quran, the root h-l-l denotes lawfulness and may also indicate exiting the ritual state of a pilgrim and entering a profane state. In both these senses, it has an opposite meaning to that conveyed by the root h-r-m (cf. haram and ihram). In a literal sense, the root h-l-l may refer to dissolution (e.g., breaking of an oath) or alighting (e.g., of God’s wrath). Lawfulness is usually indicated in the Quran by means of the verb ahalla (to make lawful), with God as the stated or implied subject.
Foods
Several food companies offer halaal processed foods and products, including halaal foie gras, spring rolls, chicken nuggets, ravioli, lasagna, pizza and baby food. Haalal ready meals are a growing consumer market for Muslims in Britain and America and are offered by an increasing number of retailers. Vegetarian cuisine is halal if it does not contain alcohol.
The most common example of haram (kosher) food is pork. While pork is the only meat that categorically may not be consumed by Muslims (the Quran forbids it, Surah 2:173 and 16:115) other foods not in a state of purity are also considered haram. The criteria for non-pork items include their source, the cause of the animal’s death and how it was processed. The majority of Islamic scholars consider shellfish and other seafood hallal.
Muslims must also ensure that all foods (particularly processed foods), as well as non-food items like cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, are hallal. Frequently, these products contain animal by-products or other ingredients that are not permissible for Muslims to eat or use on their bodies. Foods which are not considered hallal for Muslims to consume include blood and intoxicants such as alcoholic beverages. A Muslim who would otherwise starve to death is allowed to eat non-hallal food if there is no hallal food available. During airplane flights Muslims will usually order kosher food (if hallal food is not available) to assure their chosen dish will not have any pork ingredients.
Opinions on GMO foods are mixed, although there is no widely accepted prohibition from consuming them. Some clerics and scholars have expressed support, arguing that such food production methods are hallal because they contribute to human well-being. Voices in opposition to GMOs argue that there is no need for genetic modification of food crops because God created everything perfectly and man does not have any right to manipulate anything that God has created. Some others have raised concern about the theoretical consumption of specific GMO foods produced using genes from pigs.
Method of slaughter
Hallal food must come from a supplier that uses allowed practices. Dhabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة) is the prescribed method of slaughter for all meat sources, excluding fish and other sea-life, per Islamic law. This method of slaughtering animals consists of using a sharp knife to make an incision that cuts the front of the throat, oesophagus and jugular veins but not the spinal cord. The head of an animal that is slaughtered using hallal methods is aligned with the qiblah. In addition to the direction, permitted animals should be slaughtered upon utterance of the Islamic prayer Bismillah.
The slaughter must be performed by an adult Muslim. Animals slaughtered by non Muslims are not hallal. Blood must be drained from the veins. Carrion (carcasses of dead animals, such as animals who died in the wild) cannot be eaten. Additionally, an animal that has been strangled, beaten (to death), killed by a fall, gored (to death), savaged by a beast of prey (unless finished off by a human), or sacrificed on a stone altar cannot be eaten.
Stunning of the animal is not allowed before slaughtering. It is allowed only if necessary to calm down a violent animal. However, the UK Food Standards Agency figures from 2011 suggest that 84% of cattle, 81% of sheep and 88% of chickens slaughtered for hallal meat were stunned before they died. Supermarkets selling halal products also report that all animals are stunned before they are slaughtered. Tesco, for example, says “the only difference between the halal meat it sells and other meat is that it was blessed as it was killed.” Concerns about animal suffering from slaughter without prior stunning has resulted in the ban of slaughter of unstunned animals in Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Generally, killing animals in Islam is only permissible for two main reasons, to be eaten[33] and to eliminate a danger, e.g. a rabid dog.
Meat slaughtered or prepared by People of the Book
An animal slaughtered by Christians or Jews is halal only if the slaughter is carried out by jugular slice. It is mentioned before slaughter that the purpose is of permissible consumption and the slaughter is carried out following the name of Allah (indicating that you are grateful for Allah’s blessings). The invocation of Allah’s name is a requirement. In other words, the word ṭaʻām refers to dhabīḥah meat; i.e., the meat prepared after the slaughter of an animal by cutting the throat (i.e., the jugular vein, the carotid arteries, and the trachea) and during slaughter God’s name is invoked (Ibn ʻAbbās, Mujāhid, ʻIkrimah all quoted by Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr).
Lifestyle and tourism
Non-food products
Pharmaceuticals
Some Muslims refrain from using pharmaceuticals that are not halal. This distinction is most noticeably practiced in Malaysia, which has a large halal pharmaceutical industry, complete with government regulations to make sure the products are tayyib. On the other hand, the Quran obliges Muslims to seek treatment, including preventive ones, for diseases regardless of what the care provider believes in. In particular, medicines containing animal products like gelatin have been deemed permissible by a 1995 council of Islamic jurisprudents, making such distinction unnecessary. The decentralized nature of Islam allows both opinions to exist.
The controversy over pharmaceuticals has led to refusal of childhood vaccination in some Muslim-majority countries, despite many religious leaders expressly endorsing vaccination. It is also a concern in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Personal care
Feminine hygiene products and diapers have been certified as halal in Malaysia. Such certification is not required by the religion, nor is there a demand from Muslims. Critics[who?] consider such “unnecessary” certification as little more than a marketing gimmick, e.g., halal labels on clearly vegetarian soft drinks or naturally grown food items like cereals, pulses, vegetables and processed foods made exclusively from vegetable products.
Halal in UK shops
As of August 2012, an estimated 27 UK Tesco supermarkets, in addition to most urban Asda and many Morrisons supermarkets, have halal meat counters, selling meat approved for consumption by Muslims. According to the Food Standards Agency Animal Welfare Update report, published September 2017, 16 percent of animals slaughtered by the halal method were not stunned before slaughter, which violates RSPCA standards on animal welfare. However, it is legal in the UK due to an exemption in the law granted to Jews and Muslims.
EU court ruling on halal
On 17 December 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that member countries may ban religious slaughter in order to promote animal welfare and could impose non-lethal stunning before the killing of animals. The ruling was in response to a challenge to a 2017 Flemish government prohibition on the killing of animals without prior non-lethal (also called reversible) stunning by Jewish and Muslim associations.
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