WHAT IS HALAL?

Every living thing needs food to support its existence and humans are not left out. Food supplies our body with the necessary chemical energy for our organs to thrive optimally. However, we would not be just in our definition to relegate food to the place of sustaining survival alone. Promulgated by faith and supported by science, we have seen that diet has direct effects on our health. The health of our cells (the basic unit of every life) depends on what we eat and how we eat.

Diets are so important to health that even the world’s most popular religions regard it so much to have prescribed how food should be taken, how it should be prepared, and from what source it is to be gotten.

A healthy life is what we all are looking for. Sometimes we pay for it, other times we pray for it but isn’t it rather more convenient that we perpetually live in health rather than wishing for recovery? Let us consider how healthy dieting as faith prescribes can give us a life of health. We will look at the principles of Halal and of course Kosher and how we can gift ourselves a life of wellness by following the wisdom they share.

What does Halal mean?
Halal is an Islamic term for foods that are permitted for Muslims to consume. You can look at it as a set of dietary laws for the Muslim faithful. When you pay attention to the guidelines of Halal, one cannot deny the health and overall life advantages it offers to anyone who keeps its principles. For instance, the consumption of alcohol is forbidden from the diet of the Muslim faithful. This is corroborated by scientific research as excessive alcohol intake has been linked to heart diseases, liver damage, brain, and nervous system problems, anemia, cancer, digestive problems, and seizures among others.¹

This goes to show the level of importance the Islamic faith places on dieting for health’s sake. Interestingly, it does not just hope to make man the benefiting party at the detriment of nature. For instance, the Islamic faithful is instructed to allow animals for slaughter to range freely or at most tied to a leash that permits the animal to move around. Also, the principles of halal recommend that before slaughter, animals should be fed, watered, and soothed.² Where animals must be fed with feed from natural sources without synthetic additives such as hormones and antibiotics. Interestingly, science does not hold a different view about the stance of halal on animal feed and treatment before slaughter. The National Research Council which is a part of the National Academy of Sciences gave an opinion on the effect of antibiotic mix in animal feed on human health. It was deduced that the use of antibiotics in animal feed is linked to the development of resistant microorganisms in the bodies of the animals and that these organisms are transferred to humans as zoonotic pathogens³ and they are largely untreatable sometimes leading to the death of affected humans.⁴ Considering these facts, it is before your very eyes the wisdom in the principles of halal to give you wholesome meat that doesn’t pose any threat to your health.

The concept of Halal just proves to us how humans stand a chance of living a life of health if we could inculcate the principles of halal into our dietary codes. Halal also shows us that the Islamic faith links wellbeing to dieting and this cannot be more factual than it already is. A scientific report confirmed that feeding on healthy food helps in the growth of special bacteria that increases the production of neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are responsible for your brain’s ability to decode neural messages clearly and help keep your mood light and cheerful. The connection between your mental health and your digestive system is so important that your gastrointestinal tract is called ‘the second brain’.⁵ What we eat affects our bodily and mental health truly! Little wonder the Prophet (PBUH) said “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink, and one third with air.” The Prophet (PBUH) admonished that eating should not be done solely for pleasure but to sustain good health and keep the body active. It is proven that many diseases can be traced to unhealthy eating habits which corroborate the health benefit of His teaching.