What is halal

You will see the sign " Halal " around the Gold Coast especially when the Middle East tourists are visiting between July to September. Usually it means halal food are serve in the premises displaying the sign.

 

Halal means what is permitted by God to the Muslims. This does not apply to food & drink only; but a range of matters including behaviour.

 

The opposite to Halal is Haram i.e what is expressly forbidden to Muslims. Commonly this applies to the prohibition of pork, alcohol, extramarital sex, gambling & usury.

 

The laws of halal / haram are more complicated, but this will suffice for our introductory purpose here.

 

Halal meat are meat of permitted animals slaughtered according to the proscribed rituals. Esentially this involved invoking / praising God's name while severing the major blood vessels and windpipe of the animal.

 

In a way, this is asking and thanking God for his blessings.

 

Off putting that the above may sound, it has not been proven to be anymore distressing to the animals than the non-halal methods. In fact, Muslims are prohibited from torturing / distressing the animals; hence the use of very sharp knifes and rapid slaughtering action.

 

Currently in the Gold Coast, there are 2 butchers selling halal meat.

 

However, just because the meat is halal, it does not automatically means it is halal to consume. For example at one stage, the chickens supplied to KFCs in the Gold Coast came from a halal outlet. But because the chicken are fried along with pork products, cross contamination is said to have occured making the chicken now haram / prohibited.

 

The same applies to fish and chips outlets. In general, fish / prawns & other sea creatures are halal. However in outlets, where ham burgers or non halal products are also sold, cross contamination as above occured.

 

So when you invite your muslim mates over, don't serve them beer. Seafood or vegetarian meals are perfectly acceptable and avoid cross-contamination as above.

 

In the likely event, that your muslim mates reciprocate, you will often be treated to sumptous & delicious exotic meals !

 

The concept also applies to physical contact between opposite sexes. You may see same sex muslims kissing each other on the cheeks. But kissing someone of the opposite sex who is not your brothers / sisters, husbands / wives or children is a NO-NO. And yes this apply to handshakes.

 

To finish off, the Muslims are also proscribed to dress decently. This is more obvious with the women with the hijab. Don't feel threatened. After all, we don't feel threatened with the same hijab worn by nuns. It is a reflection of their piety. So when the opposite sexes interact, sexual thoughts do not come into the equation with the potential for unnecessary social complications.

 

For more information, check out Gold Coast Halal below or our halal page.

 

Also check out the way of life page.